Forever
by PianoDance15
Summary: This is a story about Edward's biological younger sister, Grace, starting from when she was born and working its way up to the present day. The story will get more interesting as it goes on! Enjoy! Disclaimer: All credit for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer.
1. I'm going to Love You Very Much

This story goes back to Grace's birthday on December 4 of 1908. I have decided to tell Grace's story in chronological order, just to avoid confusion as the story becomes more complicated! Grace's story will be told from Edward's point of view until she is old enough to tell it on her own, then it will mainly be told from her point of view and will only change in order to supply information that she doesn't have knowledge of. Anyways I hope you enjoy and I will try to update as soon as possible! Disclaimer: All Credit for Twilight and it's characters go to Stephenie Meyer! I own nothing!

Edward's POV

I was just under seven and a half when Grace was born; my Mother's awful screams had awoken me the night of her birth. Lou, our family friend, was now serving as my Mother's midwife while my Father sat in my room with me. His expression was as hard and cold as the winter ice. His only source of warmth besides the clothes on his back was a thin blanket that barely made it around his shoulders. I pulled my own blankets up past my chin to protect myself from the chilly December air. My Father's arms were crossed at his chest, but I was unable to tell if it was an effort to keep himself warm, or if something was bothering him. His foot would occasionally tap when my Mother's screams became overbearing. It was easy to see that he was becoming anxious. Eventually my Father redirected his gaze towards me, and noticed that I was awake. His eyebrows pressed together as his hand came to rub his chin, "How long have you been awake, Edward?" He asked quietly.

"Only for a few minutes," I ended abruptly when a blood curling scream made its way to my room.

"Don't worry, when they scream like that it means that it will be over soon." He said, answering my unasked question.

I nodded and rolled to face the wall in my bed. My Father's almost constant absence throughout my childhood had wedged its way between us. The comfort that I wanted to feel from his presence was instead replaced by awkwardness. My position in bed changed a number of times for the next half hour; but I realized the notion of trying to go back to sleep was absurd, mostly because of my Mother's screams, but also because I could faintly see the golden sun rising over the horizon. That was when her screams finally came to an end, and the faint sound of Lou's footsteps could be heard as she trudged her way up the stairs and to my room.

My Father was already up when she reached us. He quietly whispered a thank you to her before leaving. Lou entered the room to find me spread out across my bed, silently yawning and rubbing my eyes. "If you think you're tired, you should see your Mother," she exclaimed while pulling me from the mattress. "Now go see her boy!" She spoke while straightening up my pajamas and pushing me out the door.

My tired state made trip a number of times while coming down the stairs; my last fall would have sent me head first into the wooden floors if I hadn't put my hands out to catch myself. Slowly, I picked myself up and crept down the hall that led to my Parent's room.

Lou was right, compared to my Mother; I looked as if I had just gotten off of a sugar rush. She leaned against my Father; her heavy breathing notified me that she was still awake, but just barely. My Father nodded his head towards a small bassinet in the corner of the room. My heart began to pound so hard I could hear it in my ears as I made my way to the tiny bed. In it lay an even tinnier baby. Some girls at my school had dolls bigger than my new little sibling.

"What's her name?" I questioned, her girlish features were fairly prominent, even for an infant.

"She doesn't have one yet." My Father spoke, his voice in a monotone. "Why don't you take her outside, let her get some fresh air."

My eyes slightly widened at his propound. My inexperience with children didn't at all qualify me to look after a child by myself, but instead of arguing I lightly lifted her and held her to my chest the way I had seen my Mother do with her friend's children. Slowly, I walked through our home and to the front porch where I seated myself on the swing. Lou had already left in an effort to give my family and me privacy.

The morning sun was still just barely over the hills; its golden rays causing the morning dew drops to sparkle. The early winter snow was in scattered patches on the ground; gradually melting away. I stroked my hand across my sister's cheek, smiling as she stirred at my touch. Her skin was still freshly pink, and she radiated warmth. I lightly pressed my lips to her forehead and brushed her baby hair to the side. I was suddenly grateful that my Father had sent my sister and me to the outdoors. The peace that I found here with her was addicting. I slowly realized that I already loved her, but it was as if I had loved her long before she was born; even before my Mother had carried her in her womb. I felt tied to the child in my arms so tightly that the vague thought of letting her go seemed impossible. I was so consumed by my sister that my Father's arrival on the porch went unnoticed until he spoke. "You can come in now if you would like," He said.

"Father, may I name her Grace?" I asked, completely forgetting the concept to think before you say.

I hadn't even realized that I had decided to take the liberty of naming my sister into my own hands until I had just proposed the idea to my Father. The shock from my choice was evident on his face, and I was sure that it was on mine, too. But when my Father nodded and turned to go back inside, the surprise was replaced by elatedness.

Slowly I leaned back into the swing and continued to watch Grace sleep. But as the Sun climbed higher, the light found its way to her sleeping eyes and they quickly flickered open. Her inquisitive eyes locked onto mine, and I found myself completely mesmerized. She held my gaze until I eventually collected myself enough to speak to her. "Good morning, Grace," I whispered to her as she blinked twice, "I would like you to know that-," I paused as she stirred when my voice became too loud and returned back to a soft whisper. Holding my lips inches from her ear I spoke, "I can already tell that I'm going to love you very much."


	2. To Temper With Its Presence

This chapter takes place in 1913, Grace is four and Edward is still eleven. Hope you enjoy! Please review! Disclaimer: All credit for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer!

Edward's POV

My parents were different with Grace, the reason for this was always unknown to me, and I still sometimes struggle with why; but the unusual relationship they had with my sister was undeniable. It was almost effortless for me to love my sister, but it seemed as if my parents weren't able to say the same. My Father was rarely with us, so his awkwardness with her was almost unnoticeable. But our Mother was with Grace almost as much as I was, and yet by the time Grace reached the age of two I had seen my Mother hold her all of five times by my count. Sometimes when I would spend time with Grace I could, out of the corner of my eye, see her watching us. But not from a supervisor's perspective, but more as if she wanted to be able to join us.

Grace would stay home with our Mother while I was at school, and when I usually returned home Grace was either helping to prepare dinner, or keeping to herself in her room. As I stepped in through the front door one evening, the silence from the kitchen notified me that my sister was in her room. "Evening Edward," my Mother said when she noticed me.

"Evening, where's Grace?" I asked.

"In her room; she's been there all day," She spoke flatly; her tone was hard and showed no sign of interest.

My sister's door was locked when I made it to her room. The only sound I heard was the rustle of the wind intertwining itself in the branches of the tree outside her room. Her window was open; I could feel the draft of the spring air filing through the open space and out from underneath her door. "Grace?" I spoke, lightly tapping the back of my knuckles on her door.

There was no answer. The stillness in her room sent me no indication that she was really in there. I considered the scenario that she had climbed out the window, but that was absurd; she was only four.

"Grace?" I called again, this time rattling the handle hoping that it would budge; it didn't.

Sighing, I let my forehead fall against the door, giving up in my frustration. Finally, I left her bedroom door, deciding that my homework would start collecting dust if I waited any longer before doing it.

Our house was almost completely silent, the only sounds audible to me were the sound of my pen scratching on a sheet of paper and the wind outside. My tedious work barely served as a workable distraction. The heaviness in my eyelids steadily increased until I finally surrendered and laid my head down on my desk. Sleep had almost completely overcome me, when I heard the soft creak of door hinges and the patter of someone's quiet footsteps. Grace appeared in my doorway moments later, looking almost as tired as I was. "Were you asleep, sweet heart?" I asked while picking her up and carrying the both of us to my bed.

She nodded her head and leaned into my chest as we sat on my bed's edge. "Edward?" she whispered, her voice was scratchy and strained.

"Yes?"

Grace let out a deep breath before continuing on, "I- I don't think Mother likes me very much; or at least not as much as she likes you." She whispered, slowly starting to drain out her statement when she felt me stiffen.

Her words lingered in the air, making it feel heavy as it pressed against my chest and left me barely able to breathe. I had never really noticed when Grace picked up on her unusual relationship with our parents, to me it seemed as if she learned of its presence just as any other child would learn to walk or speak. But what made her relationship with them so different was not the neglect that they showed her, but that buried underneath that neglect was the undeniable presence of love.

I never tempered with its presence, or questioned why they treated her the way that they did when they loved her; as I was too afraid that if I did, it would disappear. But I was still never quite able to comprehend why my parents had denied Grace what they had so easily given me. And as Grace sat in my lap, her question began to awaken my deep confusion on the subject and slowly creep its way into her. The urge to march into my parents room and have my Mother admit her love for Grace was almost overwhelming, but my better judgment convinced me to once again, leave its presence be. "They love you, Grace. I know they do." Was all I was able to say when I found my words.

The innate curiosity in a child seemed to have disappeared in her for that moment. She believed me, and I could see that she knew they loved her just as much as I did.

Together Grace and I slowly drifted to sleep when I laid us back on my bed. Just as I thought she had fallen unconscious and began to let myself do the same she whispered, "I love you, Edward."

I smiled without opening my eyes and kissed the top of her head. "I love you too, Grace," I whispered back just before my thoughts abandoned me and we were both consumed by the peacefulness of rest.

Grace never questioned our parent's love for her again; as she took after me when she realized not to temper with its presence.


	3. To Leave the Silence Be

Sorry this took me so long! I've had soo much homework with Grades being due so soon! Anyways, this Chapter goes back to 1914, Grace is five and should be starting school that fall. This is also the first chapter that is told from Grace's POV! I will try to stick to Grace's POV unless I think that otherwise is necessary. I'm trying to get through this part of Grace's life as quickly as possible, the story becomes more interesting later on so please stick around! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All ownership for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer! I own nothing!

The clink of their utensils on the porcelain plates coming from downstairs only furthered my hunger. Occasionally I would hear my Mother ask my Father a question about work, but other than that the dining room was rather silent. Edward had been behaving strangely throughout the day, and he wasn't speaking that night at dinner either. Just about once a week my Mother would let me join them for dinner; but it was done too randomly for me to accurately place when I ate with them. Tonight I was spending dinner time in my room, silently toying with my dress and listening to the occasional soft grumble of my stomach. Edward's barely audible voice eventually caught my attention; he had barely spoken a word all day, and his returning tone restored a sense of contentment back into our home.

Carefully, I inched my way out of my room and down the hall until I was sitting on top of our staircase in an effort to clarify Edward's words; but the dining room had instead returned to silence. Before I could decide if I should return to my room, my Father began to question Edward; trying to urge whatever I had missed Edward begin to say out of him.

"What is it, son?" He spoke sternly.

"I- I think that it would be good for Grace, if she started school this fall… with the rest of the kids her age I mean," He spoke gingerly.

My green eyes grew as my whole body went stiff. My desire to go to school was never expressed to anybody, not even Edward. It never occurred to me that I had failed to notice Edward pick up on my aspiration to attend school, but now it was too late to tell him to keep it a secret, and he instead had pursued the topic of conversation with my parents.

There was nothing but silence, not even the clink of a fork or the screech of a chair on the wooden floors could be heard. The overwhelming quietness left me holding my breath, as it seemed that even a soft inhale would be loud enough to be heard all the way in the dining room in the stillness. Even the outdoors was quiet, not a cricket, nor tree, nor leaf, nor anything else dared to make a noise.

My Father eventually broke the silence, but he didn't seem sure of what to say. "Well, um, I'll have to think on that Edward," he spoke; the usual confidence in his voice had disappeared.

I assumed that Edward had nodded back to my Father, because there was not a vocal response to be heard from him. In my state of shock I hadn't had enough time to comprehend that my Father had excused himself, left the dining room, and would soon find me ease dropping on their conversation. So instead of finding an empty staircase, my Father found his daughter, blue in the face from holding her breath, sitting on the top step; as still and silent as a sleeping tree in the winter.

He stopped in front of me, and his inexorable glare only further tightened my airways. "Grace?" he exclaimed.

Finally being brought back to my senses, I gasped at my name. "Yes sir?" I managed to say.

"Do," He paused to clear his throat, "Do _you_ want to go to school he asked," redirecting his gaze away from me.

My curls bounced as I nodded my head. My Father simply stuck his hands in his pockets, turned on his heels, and proceeded to his room. Before I could dart back to the confinement of my own room, I was able to catch Edward and my Mother watching our conversation; both of them staring at me now. My mortification exploded inside me, and I was left feeling so embarrassed that if I hadn't been filled with so much surprise I would have begun to cry.

My squeaky bed served as my source of comfort. My oil lamp remained off so I could hide myself in the darkness of my room. When the embarrassment began to fade I began to grow angry with Edward, and I found myself dreading his inevitable arrival.

After a good while he finally did arrive, but he merely set a plate of food on my dresser before stepping out; leaving me to wallow in my emotions. I didn't touch the food; mainly because Edward had brought it to me, and I was too frustrated with him for causing me such mortification to accept his gift, but also my hunger had disappeared long ago. Instead I found myself being slowly consumed by sleep, until every emotion was overcome with exhaustion and I was overtaken by the necessity of rest.

Somewhere in the night my desires had flipped, for when I awoke that morning the only thing I wanted besides food was Edward. The Sun was still in the midst of revealing itself over the horizon, and the silence of our home indicated me that everyone was still sleeping. I however was ironically tired of sleeping and decided to let my other desires pull me from my bed on the humid Saturday morning. Along with the Sun trailed a number of dark, monstrous clouds that promised rain. Their occasional soft rumble of thunder would make my heart jump for a moment, but then settle when the frightening noise drifted elsewhere.

Although I was hoping that the thunder would not wake anyone, I was still grateful for its presence as it covered the occasional creak that escaped the wooden floors under my feet; it was common knowledge that my parents wouldn't appreciate my activeness this early in the morning.

Edward had appeared to be still sleeping when I made it to his room; however I was proven otherwise when I tried to crawl under his covers and pushed me away, his eyes were wide open and silently questioning my motives. His confusion was understandable, as of last night I was quite successful at silently making my frustration with him very clearly understood. Placing my hands on his wrist and slightly squeezing it I mouthed the word please, even without actually speaking my begging was quite convincing. Edward silently held up his soft quilt to create a small opening; and I climbed inside as I was familiar with his wordless invitation. He had done this every night that I found myself running to him for comfort, whether it was a bad dream, a fierce storm, or even just the need for his warmth on a frigid winter night.

This morning though, I was unaware what exactly had pushed me to come here, but the peacefulness and comfort that I found from his warm embrace was utterly undeniable. His arms wiggled their way around me while I let my face burry itself in his chest. His chin rested on the top of my head, and I could feel his heart beating against my forehead. One of Edward's hands was aimlessly playing with my hair, and I laughed when he wrapped one of his fingers up to much in a ringlet and was unable to get it out. "Don't laugh at me," He whispered without opening his eyes, still slightly tugging at my hair.

My sorry was quite unconvincing, as with every pull he made there was another burst of quiet laughter from me. Eventually, after Edward had struggled enough to provoke my willingness to help him, I aided Edward in detangling his finger form my hair; an act that earned me a one small kiss on my forehead. "I thought you would like to know," Edward paused, but the reason for his brief silence was unknown to me, "He said yes."

My brow furrowed as I looked back up at Edward, whose eyes were once again open and ready to meet my own. "Sorry, I thought you would understand. Dad said that it was okay for you to go to school." He spoke again, this time adding his infectious smile.

There was no denying that I was thrilled with the news, but the broach of the topic still left me with the bitter aftertaste of frustration with Edward. "You shouldn't have asked them without my permission," I told him.

"If I had asked you Grace, you would have said no. You deserve to go to school, you need to make friends, and you won't go anywhere if you don't get an education first," He spoke, his voice gaining a hint of authority towards the end of his sentence.

"I don't care Edward," I answered, emphasizing every word, "You were lucky last night, we were _both_ lucky. They could have gotten mad at you for bringing something like that up. Besides, I had always assumed that they would send me to school; they wouldn't deny me something like that."

"No, Grace; I had overheard, and didn't want to tell you. Mother was considering keeping you home; she said she might be requiring your help around the house when Father's career picks up this fall. He already has two long distance trips planned for business, and that's only for the month of October."

My heart sunk. Along with the joy that I might be going to school there came the fear of how easily it could be taken away. This was apparently evident to Edward; his grasp on me slightly tightened as he let his forehead come to rest on the crown of my head. "Don't worry love, Father made it clear to me that you would start school last night after you had fallen asleep, and Mother seemed rather okay with the idea as well. You have very little to fear."

I nodded my head against his chest, letting him know that I understood. We gradually fell into silence. Edward's heartbeat had managed to recapture my attention, and my hair had managed to recapture Edward's; despite his last predicament.

The only thing that eventually broke our solitude was Edward's door swinging open. The occurrence caused me to jump in Edward's arms, and he laughed at my reaction. "Oh," My Mother's familiar voice came from the doorway, "Morning Grace, morning Edward; Time to get up," She said as she rushed over to the window and opened the blinds; letting the Sun's bright light pour into his room.

My eyes struggled to adjust to the brightness, and I had noticed that Edward's did the same before I brought my hands up to rub my own; which offered very little relief.

Edward and I quickly fell into silence again, disregarding the idea of getting up and leaving the confinements of his bed. Even though our quietness was comforting, it was uncommon for us to not speak when we were in each other's presence; and our unusual situation slowly began to bother me. But in my effort to fill our environment with one of our common conversations, I found myself being reprimanded by my brother before my first word had even completely escaped my lips. "Shh, Grace; don't speak. Sometimes it's okay to leave the silence be."


	4. That Song by Bach

Sorry again that this took so long! I've had lots of reviews for our standardized testing! But chapter four is now officially finished! The year is 1914 and Grace is five! Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All credit for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer.

Edward's fingers continued to run over the piano keys as I slipped my school shoes on. The melodic tune that Edward was playing was so familiar to me that it melted into the background; every rise and fall in the pitch was unconsciously predicted by me, until Edward drifted into a different melody, one that he had played before; but it happened so rarely that every time he did I found myself sitting on the bench beside him. Today was no different.

My brother had expected my arrival, as he vacated the left side of the bench for me before I had even made it down the stairs. "You remember this song?" He asked with a small smile.

I was unable to even recall the last time he had played this song, all I remembered was the heat from the day and the blue butterfly that had flown into our home through the open door; just as it always did. "It's the butterfly song," I whispered back, not taking my eyes off of his hands. They silently begged him to play again.

Before he placed his hands back on the black and white keys, Edward patted the empty spot next to him which I quickly took before the tune began to replay. I believed that the song was actually a piece by Bach that took on the name of "The Butterfly Song" by me because of its ability to summon butterflies. Today was no different from any other day, after a number of moments a single butterfly fluttered into our foyer. Edward continued to play until a second one joined the first, and after a quick glance at the clock hanging on the wall behind him; he drifted to a close. "We need to go to school," He spoke.

Edward let me hold his hand when he walked me to school; though I only think he did this because it was my first day and I was rather skittish. "Do you remember where to go after school?" He asked, looking down at me as he raised his eyebrows.

I nodded my head and swallowed to try and soothe my dry throat. Edward had walked me through the procedure that I was to follow today last evening; showing me the exact route that I was to take directly after school that led straight to his private school where I was to wait for him on the front steps, and not to leave or talk to anyone until he was with me. "Are you ready?" He asked me.

I peered up questioningly but the sight of the school house just over the small knolls caught my sight. It was an odd spot to place a school to me; there was no formal walkway across the very small hills that brought you to the large wooden doors on the school, instead there was a small cow trail that led to the front entrance. A short white picket fence outlined the perimeter of the school grounds that, if tested, would provide no chance at being able to keep kids from running home if they wanted to. The road that led to the school was made of gravel; and lacked a sturdy foundation. But the school house, despite its absences, had an undeniable charm to it. The little white building nestled in the green trees upon a handful of grassy knolls beckoned people unlike any other building that I could recall.

I was unaware of how much time I had spent staring at the school, but by the way Edward had been leaning against the picket fence I was able to infer that it had been for a while; Edward was too polite to interrupt my fascination. He was lucky to be a patient boy. My gaze found him, and I smiled at my brother as some of my worry for my first day began to waver.

There were other children running around on the front lawn, but I didn't know any of them. Today I would be all alone. "Would you like me to walk you in?" Edward asked.

"Yes please," I spoke and took Edward's hand as we began the small trek to the school.

Every now and then Edward or I would have to dodge a child not paying attention to where they were running; this was always followed by a parent's frantic apology and a small questioning look as they noticed the absence of my own parents. Edward would lightly squeeze my hand when this happened, trying to reassure me that this was nothing to worry about.

Edward I assumed could somehow sense my hesitation, because the closer we got to the school the tighter his grip on my hand would get; it was almost as if he was expecting me to turn around and run away.

We slowly walked up the front wooden steps and entered the school-house. My class was the first one on the right. The chalk board at the front of the room was covered in writing that I was unable to read, and there were rows of books lining one of the walls; I tried to read the titles on some of them, but it was useless.

The only writing that I was able to recognize was my name scribbled on a piece of paper the rested on a desk next to the one of the windows. "That one is mine," I whispered to Edward and pointed at the desk.

He smiled and led me to it where he then pulled out the chair and motioned for me to sit. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked.

I nodded while my eyes continued to wander around the room, "Look at me, Grace." He spoke and I pulled my gaze away from the pictures on the wall back to Edward. "I'm going to leave now; I'll see you after school." He spoke with a smile and kissed my head before turning to leave out the door.

The bell rang moments later, and kids flooded the room within seconds. My classroom soon bubbled with the chatter of children as my teacher stepped through the door. I hardly noticed, my gaze was stuck on a girl sitting across. Her blonde hair shimmered in the sunlight, and her bright blue eyes were clearly visible from across the room where I was. I found myself unable to understand the new feeling, she seemingly had an unexplainable familiarity to me, but that wasn't very possible; I had never seen her until today. The only thing that made me look away was when the conversation she was having with the boy sitting behind her stopped and she looked at me. With this I quickly redirected my gaze to the front of the room, and listened to the teacher begin to introduce herself and welcome us to kinder garden.

The day went by slowly, and I found myself looking back over to the girl with every available opportunity. Sometimes she didn't notice my gaze, but more then not I would find her looking back at me. When this happened I tried to look away as quickly as possible, but it always took me a second or two before I was able to. It wasn't until lunch time that I had gathered enough courage to go talk to her. She was standing alone on the edge of the school grounds. There was a thick book in her hands and she wore a pair of glasses that took up a lot of her face. As I drew closer to her, I noticed the butterflies that she was studying; and quickly identified them as the ones that gathered around the piano whenever Edward played the song by Bach.

"Hello," I spoke shyly as I approached her. She smiled at me before I continued on, "My name's Grace,"

"Evelyn," She said referring to herself, "Do you like Butterflies?" She asked as she pointed to the fluttering creatures with her pen; slightly raising her eyebrow at me.

My attention went to her book as I nodded my head. There was a picture of the blue butterfly in it, and a lot of writing. "This one's a Lycaenidae Butterfly; from what I can tell they're a very large family of butterflies," Evelyn said matter-of-factly. She was smart, that went without saying.

"They like music," I spoke as I reached my finger out for one of them that was crawling on a leaf expecting it to fly away; but instead watched in awe as it crept onto my finger.

Evelyn watched me before studying one of the pages in her vast book and peering back up looking confused. "That's strange, it doesn't say that anywhere in here," She spoke.

"You- you can read?" I asked in amazement instead of defending my statement.

"My brother, Lawrence, taught me. He's in third grade," She answered me.

My crooked smile that Edward said we shared now appeared as I handed the butterfly over to Evelyn. It rested on her hand for a few moments before she lifted her hand higher and it flew away. "I have a brother too," I whispered as we watched the butterfly leave, but my statement was more for myself than it was for her; I wasn't even sure that she caught it.

"Would you like to have lunch with me?" She asked as she closed her heavy book.

Evelyn didn't wait for me to answer, and instead took the lead and sat on one of the posts that belonged to the school's perimeter fence. We faced outwards and watched a creek just beyond us gush, practically overflowing with water. "Don't you have a lunch? Why aren't you eating?" Evelyn asked when she noticed my absence of food.

My head shook back and forth as I continued to watch the creek, "Well here," She said offering me apart of her lunch, "You can have my apple."

"Thanks," I murmured gratefully and took the shiny red fruit.

"Consider it an I'm-glad-that-I-met-you gift," She said happily with a bright smile.

"Well, what should I give you?" I asked almost worriedly.

"You've already given me your friendship, Grace"

I didn't understand how that was enough, it seemed as if she had given me more than I had her. But Edward had reassured me later that day that friendship wasn't about that, and that friends did things for one another out of kindness and never for something in return. Edward was always able to make sense of even my most confusing situations. And that night, as he lay with me while I fell asleep, he managed to fill my head with some of my most blissful memories when he began to hum that song by Bach.


	5. The Potential in Yourself

I've got a few chapters under works right now so hopefully more will be up quite soon! But today's story takes place in December of 1916! So this means that Grace has just turned eight and Edward is 15! Wow time's going fast, I didn't even realize it until now! Anyways please enjoy! Disclaimer: All credit for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer.

Edward was somewhat of a living atrocity when it came to children. This was, as I believed, because Edward was born an adult. He always, even during infancy, had a sense of maturity to him. Our Mother had even joked that his first words were "please" and "thank you"; though this quite possibly could have been true and not just a joke.

It was as if Edward had lost his ability to understand children as soon as he was no longer one himself. He still had friends, and Edward was still a very lively and outgoing boy; he just struggled to understand the uniqueness that children have in the world. Though I for one should not be complaining, for if Edward hadn't possessed this sense of maturity, he probably wouldn't have even tried to take on the responsibility of raising me when our parents decided not to.

For this reason I was the only child that he ever seemed to understand. He had the ability to entertain me, care for me, teach me, and love me without even trying. But one of my favorite things that Edward ever did for me was strangely when he would lie to me.

Edward only lied when he knew he knew I understood that it was a hoax. I guess that this made them more stories than lies; especially since he told them to me at night. He told me real stories most of the time and only slightly stretched the truth to spike my interest. Some stories were more true than others, but my favorites were the ones somewhere in the middle. He managed to develop a special way of making a tale seem so realistic without crushing the fantasy hidden inside of it at the same time.

He told me these stories every night. And I would always find myself watching whatever scene he was describing play out in front of me. Every detail he spoke of gave the story an even stronger since of livelihood. Every color, every object, every animal, every person; they all took on a mystical existence inside of my head. They were filled with wonder and excitement, and managed to leave me feeling blissful and content as I went to sleep that night.

He had told them to me for as long as I could remember, until one night when the stories stopped. There was no gradual end to them; it was more of an abrupt and quite unpredictable end. There was no difference about that night or that day that they had stopped; they just did, and without any sort of warning my magical stories had come to their close.

I cried myself to sleep that night. Half wanting for the night to be over and to forget about my disappointment; and half wishing for Edward to rush into my room once he heard my whimpers frantically explaining how he had forgotten, but this never happened. There was no mention of the story's absence the next morning either. And instead I awoke to find a rather stern and rude Edward waiting to take me to school. He still had his sense of love and fondness towards me, but there was a new sense. It was a sense of authority, and I didn't like it.

Over time Edward grew harsher and harsher; and as he took on a stronger role of authority, his role as a friend and a brother began to weaken. I grew apart from him, and our relationship became awkward and burdening. I kept secrets from him, asked him for little, talked to him rarely, and even began to be around him less. I was beginning to lose Edward; and by the time I was eight, I vaguely even considered him my brother.

I tried to make more friends when I started to lose Edward, but by the time I was in second grade, Evelyn was still the only friend that I had made; with the exception of her brother, but Lawrence was more of an acquaintance than a friend. Edward had told me that it was because I was too quiet and shy to make friends. He said this harshly and coldly; without containing his usual hint of sympathy when he had to tell me unappealing news. This was, based on my assumption, because I had upset him earlier that morning.

Edward had put me in ballet classes the fall that I had begun first grade. He did this because I had begged him to after learning that Evelyn was taking them and wanted to do the same. But Evelyn was a talented ballerina and I was not.

Ballet was not my area of expertise. Evelyn had tried to help me improve in the beginning, but upon realizing that I was a helpless case she began to slowly offer her knowledge to me less and less often as time went on. She wasn't being rude; she only stopped because she began to realize that it upset me when I was unable to do what she could. It wasn't an obvious tenderness, it was merely a small ache that always pulsed somewhere inside of me when my lack of ability was prominent.

My teacher wasn't very fond of me either. She poked and prodded at me until I got as close to the correct position as was possible; but I was still quite odd looking amongst the other girls. Eventually I grew resistant about going to class, and Edward would have to fight me to make me go. He always won, but our fights always put me in a foul and solemn mood by the time that I arrived at class. This only worsened my lack of determination to do well.

But the one thing that kept me going, besides Edward's persistence, was that every following day after ballet I would arrive at school to find a small chocolate square waiting for me on my desk. How I made the connection between ballet class and the chocolate was unknown to me; but for some reason I feared that if I stopped going, the chocolate squares would stop coming.

For this reason I never missed a class, and every Tuesday after my Monday ballet class there would be a small piece of chocolate waiting for me. It was hard to keep my secret gifts hidden from Edward, but I feared that if I told him he would try and stop the person from giving them to me. But the secrecy of the chocolate only added to the excitement. For three months I managed to hide the chocolate squares from Edward, but he eventually found out.

It was my mistake when he did. I had been searching the chocolate wrapper for any sort of identification as to who was giving them to me alone in my room, but I had forgotten to lock my door and Edward had entered to find me studying the small shiny wrapper with quite a bit of interest. "What is that?" He had asked.

"Nothing," I said and tried to helplessly hide the wrapped behind my back.

"Let me see it, Grace."

Instead of arguing I handed Edward the wrapper and admitted to him the events of the past three months. His anger was more prominent than I had thought it would be, and soon enough I found myself cowering in his scornful lecture. "I'm going to put an end to this nonsense as soon as I can," He had yelled, "And don't you ever keep a secret from me again, understood?"

But I didn't understand. So the agreement he had wanted was replaced with my counter argument, something that he wasn't expecting. "You can't stop it!" I had protested, "This is none of your business and you have no right to take away one of the only things that keep me happy! You think you're so superior but you're not! You're still just a kid Edward!"

With this I sprinted away. There was no thought to where I was going, and soon enough I ended up on the front steps of my ballet studio. By this time I was vigorously shaking with the shivers from the cold air, and my panting breath was visible as it began to condense when exhaled. My teacher was inside, and I was lucky that there was no class taking place at the moment; if there had been I would have had nowhere to go and would instead find myself cold and stranded in the snowy, December Chicago city. "Grace?" She had called when I stepped inside. "What brings you here? Your class was yesterday."

My answer was replaced by quiet sobbing. And once my teacher noticed the tears she was immediately at my side ushering me to sit down. There was something about Mrs. Lovik that told me that she knew everything. Most people didn't have knowledge of the neglect I had, even Evelyn barely knew about it .But Mrs. Lovik made me feel like she did.

She didn't question me; instead she let me think in silence for a number of moments. It was hard for me not to go over the current events in my head even though I wanted to stop; but there was something about the way Edward always scolded me that kept the scene always replaying in my mind. It was his resentfulness. A small hint of unwillingness that was always there, but just ever so slightly. Eventually when my sobs came to a close, my teacher spoke again, "Would you like to dance with me, Grace?" She asked, motioning to the empty studio.

Out of all things I had never thought that something I was so awful at would sound so appealing. But the way Mrs. Lovik held my hands when she let try on pointe shoes, and how she had taught me combinations and how to do jetes and pirouettes; she made me feel happier than I would have considered possible in my current situation. "You're doing quite well, Grace." She had surprised me when she said this, for I had always considered myself a terrible dancer and was sure that she had too. But today was different, "Quite well indeed. There's something…" She paused to search for the correct word, "Different, about the way you're dancing."

My brow furrowed slightly; though it was a different kind of confusion than would have been expected. I, for some reason, was able to understand exactly what Mrs. Lovik meant when she said that I was dancing different, but was unable to explain what.

My eyes found their way back to Mrs. Lovik in the midst of continuing their search for an answer. It was only when her face lit up with some sort of new knowledge that my attention was brought back to the moment. "It's because you're dancing for yourself," She whispered. "Every day that you came to class and I saw you dance there was always something missing."

With this the connection came together in my own head, and I unconsciously finished her thought on my own. "It was because I danced with my mind; but there was no heart to my dance; there was no love. I only dance for other reasons; but today I danced because I wanted to. Today… I danced with my heart." I ended in a whisper as my voice began to trail off towards the end of my statement.

"I always saw the potential in you, Grace," Mrs. Lovik spoke as she took my hand and lead me to the mirrors where she then held both of my hands as I found my balance amongst my toes in the wooden ballet shoes. "It's just that now," She continued in a soft whisper, "You can see the potential in yourself."


	6. Grace's Small Mystery

This chapter is SHORT! But it contains some good information! It takes place in January of 1917, Grace is still 8 and Edward is still 15! I did have to jump back to Edward's POV for this chapter but the next one will be back to Grace's POV and will be much better! So please keep reading and enjoy! Disclaimer: All credit for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer.

It was a cold, foggy morning when I stood alone outside of Grace's school; waiting for some child to walk by with a piece of chocolate with them. It was just barely snowing, but it was enough to make my vision of the school house from the picket fence slightly blurry. There was a small hint of worry that I wouldn't be able to see a child enter the school from this far away, but something kept me leaning against the fence and waiting for the child with chocolate.

It was Tuesday, and Grace had told me herself that the chocolates came every day after her Monday Ballet class; but there was still after a good fifteen minutes no child with any sort of chocolate. As time went on my plan began to feel more and more absurd, but it was when I was beginning to feel the urge to give up and leave in order to find some sort of warmth to indulge in that the sight of a young boy with a small chocolate square concealed in his hand had caught my eye amongst the newly formed crowd of children and their parents waiting on the grounds for school to begin.

Without thinking I started to approach the boy and stopped when he entered the school. For a moment I mindlessly stood in the middle of the crowd with my eyes locked on the school's front door waiting for the boy to come out. Eventually he did and was, as I expected, empty handed; the chocolate was gone.

He approached what appeared as a brother, and with one last look at the school house they began to casually make their departure. My panic for losing the boy in the crowd overtook me and I quickly made my way towards him and tapped his shoulder without even considering what I would say to him. "Excuse me," I spoke hastily and only continued when I had his attention. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you carrying a chocolate square when you entered the school house?" I asked him.

He and his brother's faces both appeared frightened by my assertiveness, but he still shook his head in reply.

"What happened to it?" I asked once I had my answer.

"Well, I, um, I left it on someone's desk… I guess," He stammered, still obviously frightened and also seemingly confused.

"Why?" I demanded from him.

"It was a gift." He spoke smoother now, taking on more confidence in his voice. "It was for a mutual friend." The boy continued when my questioning look still hadn't disappeared. "All I know is that on Monday she has ballet class and they said it seems to upset her when she goes because she isn't much good. So I just thought that a small piece of chocolate might cheer her up a bit, that's all."

"Who's the mutual friend?"

"His name's Lawrence Willington. His sister, Evelyn, is friends with her. I believe her name is Grace. Yes, her name's Grace Masen," He confirmed.

"So you don't actually know Grace yourselves?" I asked them.

"Of course not, we don't even go to this school," He said laughingly while motioning to the uniform that he wore.

It was then that I noticed that we shared the same uniform. These two boys went to the same private school that I did. My sister's secret gift giver had been right under my nose the entire time, and I had had no way of ever knowing it.

"I'm Conner James by the way," He said in an effort to fill the silence that had fallen on us, "And this is my brother Clyde," He spoke motioning to the boy next to him.

"I'm Edward," I spoke to them while I began to smile, "Edward Masen."

Conner and Clyde were calmer than I had expected them to be when I told them this, but they were still undoubtedly surprised. "Oh, so that's why you wanted to know this." He said while laughing almost embarrassingly alongside his brother; but then quickly stopped when the thought occurred to them that I had the ability to ruin the secrecy they had been trying to protect in their gift giving.

"Don't worry, I won't tell her," I said without thinking.

What had made me say this was unknown to me, as I had intended to inform Grace on who it was that had been giving her theses chocolates for so many months. But that intention, along with the one to ask the boys to stop with their gifts, had faded and was now replaced by the urge to leave its existence be when it came to Grace's small mystery.


	7. My Small Chocolate Squares

Yay! Another Chapter! This one is in January of 1917 and Grace and Edward are still 8 and 15! Please enjoy! Disclaimer: All credit for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer!

School wasn't my forte. And as I moved up through the grades, I got worse and worse. Edward would help me with my homework and some school work, but I seemed to never get any smarter. Instead I was stuck in the midst of Edward's superior shadow. Every time I tried to call Edward out on being smarter than me, he always had an excuse. As time went on my interest in school weakened and weakened along with my ability to do school work. To me, school was a spider web; each string of knowledge intertwined with the other and I was a fly caught somewhere in the middle struggling to get free and make sense of my situation.

One day I found myself so confused that I gave up all together. Instead of trying to make sense of the lesson, I resulted to looking through an expensive picture book that Edward had bought me for my birthday. The teacher didn't notice where my attention actually was until I turned a page just loud enough to catch the attention of the entire class. Her ruler came so quickly down on my hands that I recoiled to the back of my chair; just barely stopping myself from completely recoiling into a ball. "I will not tolerate some disrespectful child in this class denying me the simple courtesy of their attention whilst I am teaching!" She had scolded so loudly that I went to plug my ears. This was another mistake.

"Listen to me speak!" She had screeched.

My chair and I flew a foot backwards when her ruler tried to slam down on my hands again, but this time just barely missed.

Her anger had then reached its peak. She reached out and grabbed my dress, yanking me to the front of the classroom where she then reached out for the cane behind her desk.

Each hit rocked me with a small eruption of pain. But I tried to show no other sign of emotion; though there still was an occasional wince that escaped me. There were only three hits by my count, which was much less than I had expected.

My face was emotionless when I took my seat behind my desk. It was only when she took my book that the quiet sobs began. My efforts to conceal them were worthless. Tears dripped onto my hands that were folded together and resting in my lap. My mortification swelled inside me whenever I let out and audible sob. I knew that everyone was watching me without looking. It was the only time that I ever cried at school.

When the bell that signified the end of school sounded, I wasn't sure if I should try to be the first one out, or the last. Instead I, in a zombie like state, trudged out of the room and walked to Edward's school. My thoughts were non-existent for the moment, and for once my mind was completely empty. Edward walked out of school to find me overwhelmingly dazed. The throbbing of my sores from the cane earlier and the chilly winter air were the only things that kept me even slightly present. "Grace?" Edward called, managing to revive me slightly.

A response wasn't necessary; he could already tell that something was wrong. "What happened?" He demanded harshly.

Slowly I made my way through the day's events as we made our way home. The whole time I spoke in a monotone and didn't make a single glance at Edward, I didn't want to see his disappointment.

"Why would you even consider doing such a thing, Grace?" Edward asked.

Never was I expecting that. It was obvious to me that he was going to be disappointed. But never had I thought that he would blame the occasion on me.

My dazed state took over me again as Edward began to scold me. I didn't even catch a word that he said. But there still was the prominent hint of resistance in Edward's tone that he usually had when lecturing me. But my attention wasn't on that now, it was merely something that I managed to pick up on while I instead focused on the anger that was consuming me; replacing my surprise to quickly for me to control until I became to enraged to contain myself. "Edward! I can't stand you any longer!" I screamed with clenched fists at my side. "You don't even try to understand anything! You know nothing about taking care of a child and I wish that you had never even tried!"

I regretted the words the minute that they escaped my mouth. But the regret was unable to overtake my rage, and instead I found myself sprinting into the woods. My running didn't stop until I came across a spot that I considered reasonable enough to rest at. It was actually more than reasonable. It was just as inviting as the school-house had been on the first day of school.

There was a single lonesome tree in the middle of a sunny opening somehow; and it was somehow able to completely clear me of all my emotions and thoughts, and instead replaced them with a sense of contentment. A small stream of water no more than five feet wife that ran to the right of the tree, and an average sized tree trunk lay across the stream and managed to serve as a makeshift bridge. Silently I padded my way carefully across that fallen tree trunk and made my way to the comforting shade of the tree. There I sat amongst the cold snow for as long as I could; not thinking, not worrying, not wondering. There were no thoughts in my head. Instead I immersed myself in the sounds of the winter afternoon; but when the sun began to set over the horizon it became clear to me that I needed to be heading home, and that I could either do it now, or sprint home through the terrifying woods in the cold winter night. My choice was made quickly.

As I trudged home through the snow, I committed the way to my tree to memory; there was no question to whether I would be coming back or not. My Mother and Father said nothing to me when I stepped through the door, there was just the unsaid, but very prominent, anger and disappointment. Instead I went straight to my room where I slipped on my nightgown and hid amongst the confinement of my bed.

Just before I found myself drifting off to sleep, I heard the soft creek of my door opening and a stream of golden light flooded my dark room. Edward's silhouette became visible in my tired, blurry vision when I rolled over to see who my visitor was. Every part of me wanted to demand him to go away; but I was too exhausted to argue with him and instead rolled back over to face the wall and didn't speak a word to him.

He didn't say anything either. Edward merely approached my bed and took a seat next to me without uttering a single syllable. "What do you want?" I demanded when his presence finally became to irritating.

He took a while to answer, but eventually he muttered something almost inaudible to me. "I'm so sorry, Grace."

With this I turned to face, and his green eyes locked onto mine as I squinted and tried to see him clearly in my dark room. There was a pleading in his eyes though. It was for forgiveness, and it was sincere. My heart sunk when I saw this as I immediately regretted every awful word that I had ever spoken to him.

My hands unconsciously came to my face as I began to sob; just barely managing to stay quite enough to not wake my parents. "Don't cry, Grace," He stuttered, "There's no reason for you to be sad."

For once, I found myself mimicking Edward's gesture of creating a gap in the covers as a way to non-verbally invite him to join me. Edward quickly slid next to me and cradled me against his warm chest.

After a length of silence, I was able to muster enough breath to speak. "Why did you do it? Why were you so mean to me?"

He sighed before answering, but eventually seemed to have gathered the correct words to explain his reason for his current behavior, "I thought- I just thought that I wasn't being a good guide for you. I guess that I believed if I didn't punish you, or stop coddling you, then you wouldn't… I don't know, Grace. I guess it was just a mistake, an awful mistake." He ended.

That next morning after Edward had walked me all the way into my classroom we uncharacteristically found a chocolate square sitting on my desk. I was expecting some sort of anger to erupt inside Edward, but once I saw his warm crooked smile I realized that those times were behind us. Instead my brother lightly pushed me towards my desk and softly told me to go take the gift.

When the chocolate was in my hands, I began to study the small square instead of slipping it into my pocket like I usually did. "Is there something wrong?" Edward asked now standing at my side.

While smiling at my brother I gently broke the chocolate in half and offered the other piece to Edward. "No Grace, that's your gift." He protested.

"But I want you to have it," I answered with a smile.

Edward slowly took my offer and kissed the top of my head before leaving my school; but there was something about the way he took the chocolate that seemed as if he knew something I didn't. But I didn't question Edward; and instead decided to let him keep his knowledge to himself in order to preserve the mystery in my small chocolate squares.


	8. Tell it to Me

Sorry again that this chapter took so long! But it's probably my favorite so far! It starts off slow but gets better as it goes. This chapter takes place in September of 1917, Grace is still 8 and has just begun fourth grade and Edward is now 16 and has just begun eleventh grade. You will need to have a bit of background knowledge on Twilight to understand a small piece of this chapter though. If you don't know what it is just pm me or ask me in a comment and I'll tell you. Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All credit for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer.

It was a sunny Friday afternoon when I decided to visit my tree once again. Over the course of the past few months, I had managed to visit it almost every day. For some odd reason, Edward never questioned where I went; instead he just let me go and always waited for me to return home either in our grand room or on the back patio, depending on how late it was. Something told me that he knew I wanted to keep where I was going a secret.

The snow had melted long ago, and through the months small white flowers had began to sprout from the tree's branches. Not long ago though, those flowers had grown into apples, and today those apples were finally ripe. Having missed dinner as usual the past night, I was ready to enjoy one of the red fruit hanging from the trees branches; and it didn't seem like I could get to the tree fast enough.

There wasn't a single cloud in the sky that afternoon, and the bright rays of sunlight made the apples glisten. As I approached the tree, it became apparent that the apples at the bottom were not as ripe as the ones at the top; so I quickly grabbed one of the tree's low hanging branches and hoisted myself up into it in the efforts to climb to the top where the best apples were. The scratchy, rough branches brought an uncomfortable feeling underneath the tight grip of my hands, and the rubbery soles of my shoes would occasionally slip on the branches when they lost their grip, but eventually I made it to the top of my tree; and silently rested in the sunny spot amongst the apples.

It was a peaceful spot. The only sounds came from the small rushing creek, the chirps of small birds, and the occasional gust of wind. The warmth from the sun brought a smile to me as I plucked one apple from the nearest branch and bit into it. The taste sent my stomach into a frenzy and it immediately growled for more and didn't stop until I had chewed my way through four apples. By then I was more than completely filled with satisfaction and instead of taking another apple, rested quietly in the tree. The only indication I had for the amount of time I had spent in the branches was the suns position in the sky; and by the time I returned to the ground it was just barely visible over the horizon. The resistance to leave though overcame me when I realized it was time to return home and I found myself slumping onto the ground and curling beneath the shade of the tree where I laid unmoving in the lingering summer warmth.

When I had fallen asleep I didn't know, but when I awoke the sun was long gone and I found myself completely surrounded by darkness, not even the moon was visible. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it beating on my chest as I jumped from the dirt. Frantically, I searched for the path that lead me home, but it wasn't visible in the night. There were no thoughts in my head; I only felt the instinct to run and the overwhelming fear as I darted from the tree. There was no time to search for the log that lead across the creak, instead I trudged through the freezing waist high water; forgetting about the consequences I would face when I made it home. As soon as I made it through the creek I ran. Edward and I had always enjoyed running, it was something that we shared. But tonight I ran not for happiness, but instead from fear.

The only notification that told me I had made it back to the trail was the gravely sound I heard coming from beneath my steps; but it didn't soothe my fright. Instead I kept running faster than I knew I could go. The beating of my heart was audible in my ears along with the sound of my footsteps and the rush of a creak off in the distance that probably led to the smaller one by my tree. But through those noises I began to hear the faint sound of anonymous footsteps in my pursuit. I tried to push myself to go faster, but there was no attainable speed left in me, and instead the footsteps only grew closer. I could feel the stranger's presence right behind me; they were so close I could hear their breathing. But it was when I felt the stranger's hand grip my shoulder that I immediately jerked to my right in an effort to break loose from the grasp. The person's nails dug into my skin and scratched me when I broke free from them, but by doing this I had ran off the trail, and now found myself taking a beating from numerous tree branches, bushes and rocks as I tried to find my way through the dense forest. Sobs were beginning to erupt inside me when the whole left side of my body slammed into a tree cloaked in darkness. Though I stumbled over myself I managed to keep running, but the throbbing and dizziness that I began to feel from my last encounter with the tree trunk only made me run slower and more clumsily.

The footsteps were still audible, and they were the only thing that kept me from completely collapsing onto the ground and giving up in pain. And it was just before the person was able to reach out and grab me again that I lost the feeling of ground beneath my feet and was engulfed in the ice cold water belonging to the creek. With my last bit of strength I gripped the rock that the ferocious rush of water slammed me against in an effort to keep from being rushed down creek. The silhouette of the person who had followed me was visible from underneath the creek water. And as I tried to scream I only made a small gargling noise as I choked on the water rushing down my throat. My sobs blended into the violent shivers that came over me, and my tears weren't visible as my face was now soaked form the creek water. The pain and fear that I felt wouldn't have even been visible to someone watching.

Eventually the coldness from the water left my whole body feeling numb enough to where I lost my grip on the rock. Slowly I sunk beneath the surface of the creek, too tired to fight to stay above the water. My heart was slowly giving out as I sunk mindlessly to the bottom of the creek; my decent not ending until I lost my consciousness completely.

~ • ~

The only thing that brought me back was when the water's cold embrace left me and I came face to face with the stranger who had pulled me from the creek. There was no bit of strength left in me to move, or even speak; I was barely able to breathe in the state I was in. Instead I rested limply in the stranger's strong embrace as they concealed us in the darkness from a colony of small trees. As my senses became stronger the melodic sound of the stranger's voice became audible. "Can you hear me?" he asked. The only indication I had that he was a man came from the deepness of his tone.

He didn't continue until I nodded my head, though I was so numb I could barely move and my returning sobs caused the nod to be almost unnoticeable. "Sshh, sshh. You're going to be fine," he spoke in a soft, soothing tone. "But, I need you to close your eyes." He said, "And don't open them until I tell you to. Don't even peak, ok?" He asked.

As he lifted me up and held me against his chest I buried my face in the base of his neck and squeezed my eyelids together. After that I wasn't sure what happened, I couldn't explain it; but it was like magic. I was unable to feel graceful stride of his steps, but instead only the rush of air against my back. The wind whistled in my ears and blew through my hair. We were traveling at the most indescribable speed; I could feel the rush in my heart. I felt like I was flying, like he was taking my away, far away, from everything that we left behind. It was in that moment, that I experienced the best kind of magic there was, even if none was involved at all.

Slowly our speed began to decline until we came to a complete stop. When I reopened my eyes we were in a home and I had been placed on what felt like a sofa. The man who had brought me here was gone. The only thing that notified me that he was still in the house was the squeak of a faucet and then the sound of rushing water that followed. I cringed at the noise when a harsh pain erupted in my stomach; the kind of pain that came with fear, but was still able to make you feel sickly. I was falling in and out of consciousness when the man picked me up and began to carry me to the source of the running water sound. Once there he slipped off my shoes along with my outer dress. My bow was also pulled from my hair until I was left in nothing but my smock and tights. Slowly I peeked through my eyelids just before I was placed in a tub of warm water. There I rested until my exhaustion completely overtook me and was consumed by sleep's blissful state.

By the time I awoke the sun was high in the sky and I was in dry clothes by a fire. The warmth and comfort that I felt was too consuming for me to even question the events of the past night. For a good while I laid motionlessly while watching the flames in the fireplace. It was when I tried to roll over though that a throbbing pain pulsed through me. Quietly I winced but it was still loud enough to catch the attention of the man who had saved me the previous night. "Are you okay?" He asked while rushing to my side.

Before I had gotten the chance to answer him I caught my first glance at his face in daylight. There was something about the way he looked, not just his unnatural beauty; but the essence of him. The man infront of me was different beyond words, and I was left unable to even identify in the slightest way what made him so unique. "Y-yes," I finally mustered. From what I could recall, this was a different man than the one who had chased me into the creek last night.

"Well alright then," He spoke with a smile, "I'm Dr. Cullen by the way."

Dr. Cullen. I went over in my head, trying desperately to make sense of the previous nights events. Dr. Cullen had pulled me from the water and someone else had chased me into it. The only thing that stopped my thinking was when I realized that he was waiting for me to speak, "I'm Grace," I whispered, so quietly that I wasn't sure he caught it.

"Well Grace, would you mind telling me why you were out in the woods so late at night?" He asked, apparently having heard me say my name when I thought he hadn't.

"Well," I began, not quite sure how to explain it to him. "I had climbed this tree t-,"

"You like to climb trees?" He asked, somehow managing to interrupt me without making it seem rude.

I nodded my head, "Well, only this one," I answered him.

"Why," He asked inquisitively.

"This tree's and apple tree," I spoke, "The best apples were at the top, and I like the view from up there."

"Huh," Dr. Cullen spoke, jutting out his jar and pursing his lips as it he was going to tell me something, but didn't.

There was a story somewhere in his mind begging to get out. It pressed against his lips; but they kept it barricaded in. I could only see it in his eyes; there were far off in the distance and almost sparkled as the story played over in his head.

It was a good story that Dr. Cullen was thinking og, but I could see that; at least for now, he wasn't going to tell it to me.


	9. Our Common Silence

It's finally finished! This chapter took me a while! I had the events in my head but struggled with putting them into words so sorry about the wait! I know that it's probably repetitive since this chapter starts on the same day that the last one finished, but Grace is still 8 and in 4th grade while Edward is still 16 and in 11th grade. It is September and starts on a Sunday as Grace slept through Saturday while she was at Carlisle's house. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All credit for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer.

Dr. Cullen and I sat silently until a rumble of thunder interrupted our solitude. He stepped over to the window and peered outside. From my position on his sofa I could the dark thunderous clouds that promised rain, but from the look on his face he seemed to be studying something else through his window. "I should probably leave soon. My Brother is bound to be in a fret and I'd rather to not walk home in the rain." I spoke, breaking our uncomfortable silence.

"Thank you," I mumbled as pulled his front door open, "Thank you for saving my life."

His eyes were filled with confusion as I quickly darted from his home and began to try and find my way to my own home. My hands were shoved into the pockets of my dress as I walked as quickly as I could home. Only when I heard Dr. Cullen's door slam shut and the sound of his footsteps quickly catching up to me did I stop. "Did you really think that I was going to let you walk home all on your lonesome?" He asked as he stepped up beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

Quickly I smiled at his statement before turning and heading on my way. He walked alongside of me, leading me down the long path that lead to his home until we were close enough to my own house that I began to lead the way. But even after I told him that I could find my way he still followed me.

"This is it," I spoke as we approached my home.

"You're Edward Masen's daughter?" He asked after taking note of the apparently familiar home. He sounded slightly confused and slightly surprised.

"You know my father?"

"Of course I do, he helped one of my co workers with some legal affairs. He never told me he had a daughter though, only a son." Dr. Cullen spoke in bewilderment.

It felt awful to have him tell me that my own Father never even spoke of me. It had always been something that I assumed, but never really accepted. It was obvious that Dr. Cullen could see the hurt on my face, as he once again placed his hand on my shoulder in an effort to comfort me. "Would you like for me to come inside and talk to them?" He asked.

"No!" I quickly interjected. My parents were already going to be furious with me for not coming home for two nights, it would be best for them not to know exactly how much trouble I had managed to get myself into.

Silently I reached for the gate the wrapped around our yard and opened it before stepping onto the path that led to my front door; and just as I started to walk away Dr. Cullen spoke up again.

"If you ever need to talk to someone, Grace, you're always welcome at my home." He said.

For a moment, I was unable to move as I stood watching Carlisle in bewilderment. He was a kinder man than I was accustomed to, and his generosity was heartwarming. But there was still that remaining one thing about him that made him seem so different, so extraordinary, that I was unable to identify. And though I found it unbelievably frustrating to stare at the man in front of me and not be able to understand him in the slightest bit, the compassion that he was able to give made me feel so joyful that for the first time since I had met him, I truly smiled at Carlisle for his generosity. Not the smile that you offer people just to be polite, but the one you give when someone has truly made you happy.

He stared at me for a moment after I smiled at him before quickly grinning back. His golden eyes sparkled almost mesmerizingly as I watched him bid me goodbye and turn on his way home. And once he was gone I finally began to feel the fear for the wrath that was waiting for me behind my front door.

It felt almost ridiculous to consider it, but a part of me was hoping that if I was quiet enough, I would be able to slip into my room without my family noticing. But I was proved to be thinking irrationally when I opened the door to find Edward sitting on our living room sofa with his hands fisted into his hair: something I should have seen coming.

"Edward?" I whispered to my motionless brother upon realizing that aside from him, our house was empty and I was safe from being reprimanded for a little while longer.

After hearing his name called by my familiar voice, Edward flew from the couch and grabbed me faster than I had accounted for. "Where have you been love? You had me worried sick!" Edward spoke frantically as he held me tightly in his arms.

Though I knew that I would have to tell Edward the events of last night and where I had been going for the past few months sometime soon, I wasn't ready to tell him just yet. So instead I shrugged my shoulders and buried my tired eyes into the base of Edward's neck.

Though I had only seen his face for a brief moment, the dark bags and pale complexion on him notified me that he hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night either. "Will you lay down with me?" I asked him quietly without making eye contact; hoping that the need for sleep was strong enough in Edward to distract him from having me tell him what happened for a bit longer.

He was silent for a moment before answering, and I stiffened as I waited for his response, but eventually Edward sighed and agreed before carrying me upstairs to his room.

We were lying there silently, Edward's arms still wrapped strongly around me. Even though I was just barely conscious, I could feel his eyes taking note of ever new scratch and bruise on my skin. He carefully parted my hair to examine one of the new cuts hiding on my head and lightly traced his finger down it. Edward must have been expecting me to be asleep as he quickly whispered sorry and kissed the sore spot when I winced. "You're going to have to tell what happened eventually." He whispered softly into my ear.

With this I rolled over to where I was facing Edward and curled up as close as I could against his chest. "I'll tell you tomorrow," I whispered weakly.

Edward mumbled something back but it was muffled by my hair as he kissed the top of my head once again. It was only for a handful of moments though that we rested in silence before we drifted to sleep.

The following day Edward somehow managed to be one of the first people out of school once the bell rang; even though his class was somewhere on the second floor. He was blatantly anxious to see where I had been going almost every day for the past few months.

He followed close behind me as I trudged through the woods to my tree. It was a brilliant day to take Edward to the tree; the sun was large and high in the sky and the summer heat was finally fading. I myself was probably just as anxious as Edward was to get to me tree.

It was exhilarating to pull apart the curtain of small underbrush and lead Edward through the small makeshift opening to reveal my perfect tree in its cozy opening. The green, silky grass flowed in unison as the wind blew against it. The light blue stream rushed across the clearing until it melted into the bright blue sky magically. When I finally gathered enough strength to pull my gaze away from the beautiful scene in front of me and peer back up at Edward he was grinning ear to ear. "It's like it's from a fairy tale isn't it?" I spoke softly while taking his hand.

He only nodded without looking away; but it was when his eyes began to squint with questioning that my brow furrowed with curiosity. What fault had he possibly found in the scene in front of him?

"Are those apples on the tree Grace?" He asked referring to the bright red fruit that stood significantly out against their lush green home of leaves.

While nodding my head and murmuring a quiet yes I pulled him carefully across the stream to the tree. Once there I hoisted myself up into the branches where I quickly climbed to the top and pulled one of the apples from its branch.

"Hold this for me please," I said while dropping the apple down from the branch that supported me into Edward's awaiting hands.

When my feet were safely planted on the ground I quickly reached into my school dress pocket and pulled out the small knife I had placed in there that morning. It was more pleasant to me to eat the apple in slices than to have to bight into the tough fruit. "We can sit down," I spoke while grabbing Edward's arm and pulling him down to rest in the gaps of the trees winding roots.

"So this is where you go every day?" He spoke while sounding amused.

"Mmhm," I said while slicing the apple and taking a bite.

"And you never wanted to show me?"

"I liked having a secret place," I said laughingly, "It wasn't something to do with you, it just made me feel cool to be somewhere that no one else knew about."

He was silent for a moment before he looked at me so strongly I froze. "You need to tell me what happened last night," He said somehow still morphing his voice to be easy going while leaving no room for argument.

It was hard to recall those events with the constant blackouts that I had been having, but eventually I was able to paint an in depth enough picture of that night that satisfied Edward. He did seem tense though once I told, almost like he was blaming the conflict on himself. "I shouldn't have ever let you come here all alone," He spoke somberly while rubbing my forearm.

"Oh Edward, you shouldn't blame yourself." I spoke.

He sighed, probably not in the mood to argue, but I could tell that he was still going to be hard on himself about this.

Once again we fell into silence as I stared at my brother. He was hiding something from me. It was pushed down deep in his throat and I could see his whole body tense as he tried to keep it quiet. "I had to tell you my secret, now you have to tell me yours." I spoke demandingly.

"What secret?" Edward murmured unconvincingly.

It only took the raise of an eyebrow to get him to talk. But as soon as the words escaped his lips I wished I had never attempted to pull them out of him. They made my heart stop drumming and my lungs stop breathing. They pulled tears to my eyes and let gravity bring them down. They curled me forward as my stomach twisted harshly and ached with fear. "I think that I'm going to enlist in the war, Grace," Edward spoke. His voice was flat and his eyes were somewhere off in the distance, refusing to make contact with my own.

"You can't do that, Edward," I pleaded, "People die at War,"

"People die every day, Grace," He stated harshly; so harsh that it managed to make me cringe.

"I'm sorry but, it's what I want. Please, will you let me go if I decide to do so?" He asked.

"I don't know if I could let you go, Edward." I spoke while tears crept down my cheeks.

"I don't understand why everyone is so against it." He muttered frustrated.

"Because I can't, and I don't want to, even imagine watching walk out the door while thinking that it's that last time I might see you." I whispered.

He was silent for a moment before leaning over and gently kissing my forehead. He could see my point, but that wasn't going to stop him from going. He was too stubborn to let someone talk him out of what he wanted. "Want some?" I spoke sheepishly while holding up a slice of the apple in a poor effort to change to subject.

"No thanks, I'm not hungry." He spoke.

For a second his words had caught me off guard. The concept of never really having that ache in your stomach or yearn for a bite of food was something that I knew existed; but never truly realized or seen expressed. Never having seen someone act as if they weren't hungry had fooled me into believing that my hunger was something everyone felt; but once Edward had confirmed the fact that many people aren't actually hungry pained me in the strangest way. "Must be nice to never be hungry," I muttered quietly.

Edward stiffened for a moment before leaning over and pulling me into an embrace. His face showed more shock than I had expected once he realized what he had done.

Though he had been with me all my life, and knew that I was less privileged than him, never had he really realized what it was like to been denied so much of what he, and most other people, were so easily given. I could feel Edward going over and over the thought in his head; trying to make sense of the new, and shocking realization. And as he finally began to grasp the idea, not a word was spoken, because not a word was really necessary as we watched the sun set over the horizon of trees and once again fell into our common silence.


	10. Down On Our Hearts

This Chapter starts in May of 1918. Edward is 16 and a junior in High School while Grace is 9 and in third Grade. There is also a small reference to one of my favorite Fan Fictions! If you haven't read Prelude in C I highly recommend that you do, it is amazing! Hope you like the chapter!

Disclaimer: All credit for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer.

It was a sunny Friday afternoon when Lawrence and Evelyn and I were tiredly trudging home from school. Every once in a while we would catch a peep of the surrounding conversations of our fellow students who were walking close by us; and in almost every conversation there was, at least a small, if not very prominent mention of some sort of influenza. I didn't take a liking to the word the second I heard it, slightly because it was an odd sounding word, but mainly because for some reason it made me feel uneasy. "What's everybody talking about?" Evelyn whispered to me, having noticed the strange topic of conversation.

"There's some sort of illness going around," Lawrence spoke up, startling Evelyn and I as we hadn't known that he was listening. "Mother mentioned that there was something about it in the paper." He ended with a shrug of his shoulders, implying that it was nothing to worry about.

Evelyn and I exchanged glances just before we were bombarded by two very rambunctious boys. "Lawrence!" They cheered as they jokingly pushed Evelyn's brother.

"These are Lawrence's friends," Evelyn clarified, "That's Conner and that's Clyde," She spoke motioning to the boys.

I bid them hello but nothing more as their conversation turned toward the influenza which I didn't feel comfortable talking about. For a good while I mindlessly walked next to them until Evelyn excitedly yelled, "Grace!" startling me out of my daze, "Why don't you ask your Doctor friend about it?" She cheered.

It wasn't really in my best interest to go about bothering Dr. Cullen with this topic of conversation that not even I really wanted to speak of, but instead of declining the idea I gave them a weary, but assuring enough, 'Okay' for the sake of agreement. "I need to be getting home," I spoke once we reached the split in the road where the paths to our houses separated.

"I'll walk you!" Evelyn cheered excited.

"I'm okay; I should really just walk myself." I said with a smile.

"You never let me see your home," She muttered frustrated under her breath, not expecting me to hear it.

"See you tomorrow," I tried to yell as happily as I could to throw off the gloominess that had come over me on the way home as I darted down the path way.

My heart was pounding from the close encounter. For years I had been struggling to hide what life was like for me at home; because my situation wasn't like many others. To me it seemed that most people, who have very little to nothing, are surrounded by very little to nothing; and those who are fortunate enough to be very successful and prosperous are surrounded by beautiful and wonderful things. But as for me, I never found myself quite able to describe what it felt like to be surrounded by everything, and just you yourself have nothing.

It was a heart wrenching thought for me, but none the less a true one, and for this I was ashamed. My family was well off. My Father was hard worker and a successful one too. He brought in a small fortune that was used to shower my Mother and Edward with beautiful and wonderful things; some materialistic and some not. But this wasn't what made me feel ashamed. Instead it was that out of everything my parents had denied me, their love was the most heart breaking one.

Edward always told me that they did love me, that they did really care; and though I found it hard not to believe him, I still wished that they at least had expressed it; just shown some sort of affection for me.

In the midst of my despairing thoughts I was taken by surprise when I just barely avoided walking into the shiny black automobile sitting outside my home. It was the same one my Father had, and upon noticing it, I began to notice the many other vehicles and horse carriages surrounding my home. "Grace?" Edward's familiar voice called from behind me. "Do you know what's going on?" He asked while jogging to catch up to me.

"No, what are you doing home? You don't get out of school for another hour." I stated.

"The teacher told me I needed to leave," He said while grabbing my shoulder and ushering the both of us towards the house.

What I had been expecting I didn't know, maybe I wasn't really expecting anything, but it's hard not to believe that if I was, it wouldn't have ever been this.

A mass of people stood weeping and moaning. The soft hum of their voices was audible, but I couldn't form any words. Edward and I stood frozen in the doorway, and I knew that pure shock must have been evident on our faces.

Numerous heads turned our way and gave us mourning and sorrowful glances. Sickening worry was taking over me when Edward muttered, "They're all wearing black," just low enough to where I could hear him.

Through the people I quickly picked out our parents talking to some of our guests. Suddenly a women burst through the crowd and rushed over to Edward and I with teary eyes. "I'm so sorry you two," She said in a weepy voice. "And my how you've grown; Edward you must be at least two feet taller since I last saw you. And is this Grace?" She asked while motioning to me. She continued after Edward had nodded in response to her question. "Oh it's been years. You were just a baby when I last saw you. It's so sad that a situation like this one had to bring me back to see you two again."

"Grace, this is our family friend Lou," He said after I had peered up at him confusedly, "She delivered you."

There was only time for a quick nod in response before our Mother rushed up to us, "Children, will you speak with me upstairs," She said while nodding in the direction she wanted us to go.

Edward and I bid Lou goodbye and followed our Mother up the stairs and to our Father's study in the back of the house. "Edward, Grace, your Grandfather Caswell passed away a few days ago from the influenza. Your Father and I found out this morning after you two had left for school. The funeral's in an hour so go clean up; your clothes are in your rooms on the beds." She said before turning to go back downstairs.

"How's Father doing?" Edward asked before she had the chance to leave.

Our Mother didn't even turn around to answer the question, but I still could tell the answer just by watching her. The way her posture fell and her gaze landed on the ground, the way her whole body weakened and how her shoulders quivered with a small sob. "Not well," She answered, and then continued on her way.

Edward peered down at me with tears welling up in his eyes. He patted my hair and kissed the top of my head for quite a long while. Something made me feel that this kiss was really to help him feel better.

Edward helped me into my dress and combed and braded my hair with careful instruction from me before washing up and slipping on his suit. Silently I stood leaning against the door while he tied his tie and brushed through his messy hair.

We arrived downstairs as everyone was loading into the cars. And when we arrived at the funeral there were even more people there waiting. Everything was blurred as we were being greeted by countless people, it was when the Pastor began to tell my Grandfather's life story that the whole situation really began to hit me.

I found myself absorbing every bit of information that I could, trying desperately to form an image of the Man I never got to know in my head. It felt like the service was over too quickly, and that I would never be able to gather enough information to clearly form my Grandfather in my head. Eventually people were giving us their condolences with loving hugs and kisses before making their departure and the long and mournful day ended with Edward, My Father, My Mother, and my Uncle and Grandmother sitting in our Grand room telling stories of our Grandfather.

Edward hugged me tightly in his arms as I sat curled up in his lap. "I still remember the very morning that we left for America. 'There's a boat, a boat!' He had yelled." My Grandmother spoke while expressing happy laughter for the memory. "He had always wanted to come to this country, such an ambitious man. I was afraid, but he always assured me the whole way here that we were going to start a beautiful life here. That it wouldn't even be possible to have a single regret once we made it here." She paused for a moment to gather herself before going on. "And he was right. He built the home that you two grew up in from scratch," She said referring to my Father and Uncle. "He worked that land down to the core and managed to make everything off of what would first be perceived as nothing. But he didn't see it that way. Caswell may have lived in the present but his mind was always somewhere in the future." She ended.

"That's beautiful." My Mother said sincerely and softly before kissing my Father on the cheek and standing up from her place on the sofa. "It's getting late and I still have a lot to do," She continued solemnly. "There's a downstairs guest room that you two can use, Arthur and Ella." She said and then motioned for me to join her.

Quickly I did all the chores she assigned to me before heading upstairs and getting ready for bed; but just before I could slip on my nightgown there was a soft knock on my door. Quickly I slipped on my robe and cracked it open to find Edward standing there rubbing his tired eyes in his pajamas. "Edward?" I asked in confusion.

"Do you want to sleep in my room tonight?" He asked while crouching down to my level.

For a moment I contemplated the offer before nodding my head, "I'll be there in a moment," I whispered while shutting the door.

After slipping on my nightgown and tidying up my bedroom I tiptoed to Edward's room where he was lying in bed with the oil lamp on reading a book. He quietly set his book down on his chest and parted the covers for me to slide in and join him. While I laid there in his embrace I went over and over the events of the day, but kept getting caught on the way my parents had acted today. I had always known that my Mother and Father loved each other dearly, but never had I seen it as prominently as I did today.

"Mother really loves Father, doesn't she?" I whispered as I turned over to bury my face into Edward warm chest.

"Of course she does. Why are you wondering?" he asked as he set the book down.

I thought once again of the day's events, trying to pin point exactly what my memory kept getting caught on. "Because of the way she looks at Father. She really loves him, I can tell. It hurts her to see Father so sad, too; she seems to be just as sad," I answered upon finding it.

"I know sweet heart, I know. Our Grandfather Caswell was a great man." He answered while stroking my hair and kissing my forehead.

"You got to meet him? What was he like?" I asked anxiously.

"He was wonderful," He said tiredly, "It's hard to describe him. I guess I'll start with how he looked. He had the same dark hair, hazel eyes, and olive toned complexion that our Father does and he always smelt of cigars and mints." I could hear the smile in Edward's voice as he continued on. "He had the same hard and sharp features that Uncle Arthur and our Father do. Father and our Uncle were much like our Grandfather," He trailed off.

"What else?" I asked through a yawn.

"Our Grandmother described him pretty well. He was very creative and innovative. He never stopped, he was always working for something, and he didn't stop until it was accomplished." He ended.

And as Edward's bitter sweet voice trailed to an end we both began to drift peacefully to sleep.

The next morning I rose early to help Mother with breakfast. Uncle Arthur and my Grandmother would have to depart soon, but Mother was too polite to let them leave without showing some sort of hospitality for the day.

My Father and Uncle Arthur sat around the table talking and laughing as my Mother and I scrubbed the dirty dishes. Edward eventually joined us in the kitchen and went to sit with Father. He gave me a slight smile when I peeked at him from the sink before turning back to my work. "That's enough Grace, go get ready for the day." She spoke.

By the time I was dressed and ready My Uncle and Grandmother were loading into their car to go back Uncle Arthur's home in Baltimore. He was standing on the front porch watching my Father help my Grandmother load her items into the car along with Edward and my Mother. "You and Edward are a lot alike," He said, surprising me when he spoke to me for the first time. "You look alike I mean, but he acts more like your Mother, and you act more like you Father." He stated while smiling at me.

It took me a moment to remember to smile back, and he laughed when he saw that it was crooked like Edward's. "Arthur! It's time to go!" My Grandmother called from the car.

Uncle Arthur smiled at her for a moment before looking back at me. He looked at me for a long while before crouching down to look me in the eye and placing his hands on both of my shoulders to make me face him. "It's hard for me to understand why your parents have treated you the way they do. There's something there that I just can't comprehend, but they love you a whole awful lot; that I know for sure. And I just wanted you to not only know it, but to always remember it." He spoke before kissing my forehead, patting my arm and heading down the porch steps where he bid the rest of my family goodbye, climbed in the car, and was on his way.

I smiled when my Grandmother waved at me as they departed and waved back at her. My family walked up the steps and went on their way to do what they wanted. Edward had taken a seat at the piano and begun to play a song by Mozart when I ran up to him. "May I go to see Dr. Cullen?" I whispered in his ear and waited for his approval.

Edward nodded his head without stopping the song and I quickly darted out the door and down the path towards Dr. Cullen's house.

When I reached his home I knocked on the door while calling his name until it swung open with a very concerned looking Doctor standing behind it. "Morning," I said through my panting as I tried to catch my breath after running all the way to his house.

He laughed cheerfully when he saw me and opened the door wider for me to enter.

After I was inside Dr. Cullen shut the door and went back to his place at the kitchen table where he had been working on what looked to be hospital records. Curiously I wondered around his home; sneakily peeking into empty cabinets and toying with antiques that must have been around for countless years. But it was just before I had the chance to open what looked to be an ancient map that Dr. Cullen spoke up again, "Don't touch anything, okay? Some of that would brake if I just let the wind in through the window." He stated.

Quickly I made a foul face at his instruction to not touch the antiques. "I saw that." he stated.

"No you didn't." I whispered under my breath too quietly for him to hear.

"I heard that, too." he said, this time smiling when I turned back to look at him.

I could feel his eyes watching me as I continued to wander around his sitting room studying the various items. But out of all his antiques the ones I found most fascinating were the extravagant paintings of various places around the world. Not just because they were beautiful; but because there was something about them kept throbbing in the back of my mind. Something was missing and I couldn't put my finger on it.

My teeth clamped down on my lower lip is I turned in a circle, trying to examine all of them at once; trying to see what they had in common and what was different. "What's wrong," Dr. Cullen asked as I stood there studying his paintings; trying desperately to put my finger on what was wrong.

My brow furrowed as I went and inspected each painting as closely as I could, and I didn't stop until I had figured out what was missing."Dr. Cullen?" I called.

"Grace, you may call me Carlisle." he answered.

"I don't think that Edward would like that. He thinks that it's disrespectful."

"Yes, but Edward's not here."

He sighed when I turned back and scowled at him, his sarcastic and teasing remarks had happened before, but they were happening more frequently today. "Alright Grace," He spoke softly after noticing my irritation. "What is it that's bothering you?"

"Why don't you have any pictures?" I asked; this time looking back at him to make eye contact.

His brow furrowed in confusion, only I didn't understand what about. "What do you mean Grace? There are plenty of pictures; you've been studying them for a long while now." He stated.

"No, Carlisle, pictures of people!" I corrected.

"I just, well, I don't know."

"Well, what about your family?" I asked with a smile, which quickly disappeared when I noticed the despair that had appeared on his face.

"I don't have any, anymore." He stated solemnly.

Even if I had been expecting his statement it still would have pained me to hear him say it. My head dropped to the ground as tears welled up in my eyes, the reminder of my recent loss hurt more than I was ready for. "Oh, Grace," Carlisle said comfortingly, "Will you tell me what's really bothering you," He said as he stepped over to his arm chair and signaled for me to come sit with him.

"What's all this talk about some Influenza?" I asked through my tears as I curled up in his lap.

"So that's what's got you worried," He said.

"Partially," I corrected him.

"There was a flu going around, but it's already started to die off, it's nothing to worry about." He assured me.

"It took my Grandfather," The words flowed out of my mouth faster than I could stop them and took Dr. Cullen by surprise.

He stiffened for a moment and was so still I had to look back up at him to make sure something hadn't come over him. When my gaze made it around to him he quickly jumped back to life, "Oh Grace, I had no idea. This influenza will go away soon; you have nothing to worry about." He spoke.

There was something in his voice though, some sort of hidden undertone that contradicted his statement. It unnerved me and made me feel like there was something he knew that I didn't, something that he was trying to hide. There was no energy left in me to question him though. Instead I just let my head fall against his chest as his hand began to stroke my arm. "Don't you get lonely being here alone all the time?" I asked him in an effort to change the subject as my tears came to an end.

"Not with you always knocking on my door," He stated, jokingly referring to my very frequent recent visits as I turned away slightly embarrassed.

Carlisle sat with me for a long while before he returned to his work and I returned home. Edward was still at the piano when I arrived; meticulously working out the various details in Chopin's "Prelude in C".

For a good while Carlisle's words remained to be true. The Influenza died off by the time the summer heat had really set in and everyone seemed to forget about the small wave of illness.

I spent almost all of my long summer days at Evelyn's house along with her brother and his friends Conner and Clyde. They were wonderful days filled with laughter and happiness and imagination and dreaming, hiding and jumping and running and skipping; Kite flying and tree swinging and jump roping and Butterfly searching. It was a wonderful summer, but now every time I think back to it I always wish we had realized how lucky we were to have a summer like that; for we wouldn't have taken it so for granted if we had known what tragedies waited for us at the turn of the season.

School had been canceled just two months into the year due to the fear of the illness spreading more than it already had, but for children all that meant was that there was no school. I had heard of the devastation that it was causing, had seen how the death announcements section in the paper seemed to grow longer and longer, how I began to see Carlisle less and less, how people began to socialize very little to never, and how the Influenza's monstrous grasp consumed us for those few awful months. But even with so much devastation around you, it's hard, maybe impossible, to understand the actual disparity it possesses until it really hits home. Oh how I just wish that I could relive one of those care free days in the summer. One of those days when not a single worry weighed down on our hearts.


	11. For Only a Second

This Chapter is in November of 1918. Edward is now 17 and a senior in High School while grace is still 9, soon to be 10, and in the fourth grade. It switches points of view from Grace, to Edward, and then it finishes with Grace. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: All credit for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer.

The slight overcast turned the usual nice fall air slightly chilly that afternoon. School had been canceled just over a week ago due to the raging flu, so I spent my days at Evelyn's home with her brother and his friends.

There was the promise of rain over the horizon as the light clouds generally grew darker the farther off they were, and the occasional rumble of thunder seemed to be growing louder. Evelyn and I though ignored the oncoming storm and continued to jump rope for what little time I had left at her house.

"_I had a little bird_

_Its name was Enza_

_I opened the window_

_And In-Flu-Enza!"_ We sang in unison until I began to make out the figure of my brother against the dark clouds walking towards us, meaning it was time for me to be heading home.

Just as he approached I quickly jumped on to the picket fence that outlined Evelyn's yard and swung back and forth on its hinged opening. "Can't I stay a little while longer?" I asked Edward in my best pleading voice before he even had a chance to say anything.

When Edward peered to look at me though,I caught my first glimpse of his face and all desire to stay here was gone. He didn't look like Edward; he was pale and his usually bright green eyes had taken on an awful dullness. The liveliness in his eyes that was usually there was gone. My heart sunk so low it hit the ground. And when the despairing thoughts began to pulse in my head I denied them over and over again, pretending like this was a passing faze. Edward smiled at me, but his crooked smile only pained me more. Quickly I jumped off the fence and grabbed Edward's hand, but just as we were about to head on our way he jerked his hand from my grasp and covered his mouth as he went into an awful coughing fit so dreadful I cringed.

He didn't let me touch him again the whole way home, and he didn't say a word either. I could see him trying to hide his coming illness, pretending like his gait wasn't slower and his posture wasn't weaker, like his face wasn't paler and his eyes weren't duller. I could see every bit of him trying to hide the obvious from my young and very concerned eyes.

I don't know how I managed it, but it seemed that if Edward could deny our awful future than so could I. The childish imagination was working to my advantage at this time; to the point where I had completely convinced myself that my brother wasn't sick. Eventually I had placed myself in a world somewhere inside my head where the influenza didn't exist, and by dreaming and imagining I had twisted my reality into something it wasn't. Though I still knew somewhere in me that Edward was ill, it seemed as if the knowledge that he had the influenza was known in my head, but it wasn't yet felt in my heart.

When we entered our home my Mother was at work in the kitchen. "Grace, hurry in, I need you to do something for me," My Mother called; her voice flat and emotionless as always when she spoke to me.

Both of my parents rarely ever talked to me; they managed to only do so when necessary. Today though, my assistance had been requested in the kitchen; and as I sat by the sink washing the dirty dishes I managed to catch a glimpse of a small silver locket hanging from my Mother's neck when it glistened under the house light. "Mother, when did you get the locket that you're wearing?" I asked her.

It was a locket that I had seen before, and always admired as I child, but had never quite picked up the courage to ask her about it. My Mother quickly glanced at the small piece of jewelry before answering me. "I got it from my Mother." She answered. That was another aspect about my Mother; she never addressed her parents as my grandparents. It was something that both she and my Father had always done.

The dazzling silver locket danced around my Mother's neck as she went about doing her work and had me so entranced by its beauty that I had forgotten about my chores. "Grace!" My Mother yelled, startling me out of my daze, "Get a move on! There's still work to be done and it's already dark out! Stop your day dreaming and do your chores, child!" She demanded and continued her own duties.

She wore the same awful look that Edward did, and upon seeing my Father I noticed that it was tied to him to. The weakness, fatigue, and horrendous look was bound so tightly to them that it had become a part of them; like it had always been there, somewhere inside of them and had just managed to claw its way out. Constantly I would check in the mirror to see if it had made its way to me yet, but every time I checked there was nothing.

Eventually my tiresome work came to its close and I wasted no time in heading up stairs and preparing for bed, though after I had lied down I found myself groggily trudging down the stairs to sleep on the sofa where I could better hear Edward's blissful piano playing. Somehow he manages to play music so entrancing that it brought a sleep upon me so peaceful that I dreamed the world inside me head really did exist.

**Edward's POV**

Carefully, I played out every note of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", and it eventually had put my sister to sleep just a few feet from me. The melody melted into and mixed with the sounds of the raging storm, and together they formed the setting of a very dark and wondrous night.

As the song came to its close there was a strange pain inside of me. The feeling inside of me was strange because I had never felt it before, but I was oddly able to understand exactly what it was. It was similar to the feeling you have when you know you're about to fall or harm yourself before it even happens. That was the best way to describe it. I could feel myself slipping; I could feel the life slowly draining out of me. But the worst thing I felt was my imminent death waiting for me so closely. It was coming so quickly that I tried to stop, tried to turn around and run away from it; but there was no hope. This was a battle, and death was winning.

Grace's peaceful sleeping brought tears to my eyes as I watched her rest. She had so easily and so quickly come to mean so much to me, and now one illness was going to take her away from me. It wasn't fair and it wasn't right how the time I had left with this child that I loved so much was ticking away too quickly for me to comprehend. The quiet tears quickly became a steady sobbing as I studied her further.

She was gone at the moment, living somewhere in the dreams that played out in her head. But as soon as they came to their close she would awaken to a cruel reality that not even I could shield her from, because I was a part of it.

Suddenly something pulled me back to face the piano and placed my hands amongst the keys. Only for a moment though did I sit there until my hands began to drift over the keys and play a song never heard of before. It was the first time that I had ever composed a song, but never had notes come to me so freely. They painted themselves onto the keys of the piano and pulled out a melody so filled with life that I couldn't place an end to it: I didn't want to put an end on it. Ending the piece of music was ending the life that it held. And that life in the piece I quickly realized was coming from the life in my sister. She was my inspiration; every bit of her pushed my hands to play more as the notes flowed to form a wondrous melody. The drumming of her heart became the tempo of the music, the rise and fall of her chest synced with the rise and fall of my foot on the pedal. Every part of her was described in the song to where I could see the image of her clearly in my head. How she talked and ran and laughed and played; how her eyes sparkled when she discovered new knowledge and how her lips turned lop sided when she smiled. Grace was the song, and the song was Grace. And I found myself only able to end the piece when I was able to do it without ending that life it held.

Quickly I took a blank piece of sheet music and went over the song while writing each note carefully down until the whole melody was written on paper. Only then was my fatigue too much for me to fight anymore. Shutting the cover back over the keys, I gently grabbed my sister and carried her back up to her room where I tucked her into bed. It was painful to stare at her and not be able to kiss her goodnight, for fear of getting her ill; and I found myself having to leave before the dolefulness became too much for my weak body to handle. It was once I was in bed though that the despair began to set in, and for once in a long while I began to cry myself to sleep.

**Grace's POV**

After a long night I awoke in the back of my Father's office behind his bookshelf; though I only gave the odd occurrence a small amount of thought as I just assumed that I had slept walked there somewhere in the night.

Weakly, I squirmed out from the tight spot and tip toed to Edward's room to check on him, only to find his room empty. "Edward?" I called assuming that he had already awoken, though there was no noise in the house. It was more silent than I had ever heard it.

"Mother? Father?" I called while running through the house.

A heavy dreadfulness began to set in as I ran out to check the front yard for my family, but it was when I turned around to face the front door that I found my answer as to where my family was.

It was there, written in bold black letters so strongly that even without an audible affirmation it made the fearful thought, that I had pushed so far to the back of my head that I had completely forgotten about it, become my reality.

**NOTICE**

**By the declaration of the City of Chicago officials this residence has been placed under fatal quarantine due to the presence of the Spanish Influenza Virus.**

**Please, for your own health and safety stay away from the premises. This family now presides at South Bay Hospital under the care of health professionals**.

It happened so quickly I only stood there motionlessly until my weary mind had gone over the text enough to make sense of it, but once it did I wasted no time in getting to the hospital where my family was.

The tears started to come when I saw my ill family lying in the quarantine room, and through my watery eyes it was hard to really make out the scene just beyond me. Weakly, I trudged to Edward's bedside and buried my sobs into his chest. He was barely conscious but he still managed to place his hand on the back of my head and pat my hair like he so often did. The weak, shallow breaths flowing in and out of his lungs were barely noticeable to me in my hysteria. Hopelessly, I gasped and choked and struggled for air through my crying, but it was too difficult to breathe. And no matter how hard I tried the sobbing wouldn't stop. It was uncontrollable, over whelming, and heartbreaking to feel so helpless. My whole family was slipping through my fingers, leaving me faster than I could stop them. Death's unrelenting grasp had formed around them, and already I felt as if there was nothing that I could do. It wasn't until Edward's weak hand made its way to trace invisible patterns on my back, something he usually only did in helpless situations, that I began to even slightly calm down.

With all my strength I lifted my heavy eyes to look Edward in the face. He was so sick there was barely any life to be found in him, but under my shaking hand there was still the drum of his heart. Through his weak breath he was muttering something that wasn't understandable to me. And even though I tried to respond the frantic and terrified words bubbling in my throat never would escape my mouth, no matter how hard I pushed at them. He was desperately clinging to life, and seeing him suffer so much re ignited the excruciating pain inside of me. The only thing that stopped another fit of sobs was a familiar voice that came through the countless nurses demanding me to leave. "She's a friend of mine, and this is her family. It seems okay to let her stay."

"Carlisle?" I asked weakly as a few tears crept down my cheeks.

He was walking towards me when I turned to look at him, and once he reached me he loosened my tight grip on Edward's hospital gown and carried me over to a seat in the corner. "You can stay in here if you like," He muttered quietly, "But you need to let them rest."

Even though the farthest thing from what I wanted was to leave my family alone, I nodded my head in agreement to Carlisle.

He left me alone with them, and I never left the quarantine room all day. In and out I fell of crying until it seemed that there were no tears left in me. My head leaned against the wall and my eye lids were drowsily drooping while I watched the sun begin to set over the horizon. "Grace," I heard a mutter come from one of the beds.

"Father?" I croaked weakly and tip toed to his bedside.

He was peering at me with tear filled eyes, "I'm so sorry," He muttered with burst of sobs.

Questioningly I stared at my Father and placed my hand on his sweaty cheek. "You deserved so much better than what I gave you," He spoke as I began to cry. It was strong and it was a powerful feeling; I knew what was coming, I could feel him slipping.

"Don't do this Father, please don't." I pleaded, "You can still live!"

"Grace, Grace, my… daughter. If only I had understood sooner how much you meant to me, how much I truly loved you. Please forgive me for what I've done, because I love you, Grace. I always have." He paused to take in a deep breath as I struggled to stop my tears. "You're not going to die of this cruel disease my love; I can see it in you that you're going to live forever. I love you, Grace; I love you."

Never had so much pain hit me at once. The walls seemed to be closing in as my Father drew in his final breath. I screamed and pleaded and begged for him to come back, but slowly his eyes crept shut and his lips drew closed. The grief was so strong I felt I was going to be sick, and probably would have been if there was anything in me. It wrenched my gut so tightly I began to choke on my own breath as I screamed.

Carlisle's hand dragged me away from my Father as he and the nurses pronounced his death. But before they could roll his lifeless body to the morgue I jerked away from Carlisle's restraining hand and hugged my Father and kissed his damp forehead for the first, and the last, time. "I love you, Father." I muttered as I knotted my hand into his brunette hair. The words, though so foreign to me, had a magnificent warmth and comfort to them. "I always have and I always will. I love you Father, so much."

Slowly I let Carlisle pull me away and watched them pull the covers over my Father's head and roll him to the morgue. The pain was becoming too much to bear, and quickly it forced me to have to leave before I broke down into more crying.

"Grace!" Carlisle called after me as I sprinted from the hospital, but I was too far gone for him to catch me.

I didn't stop my sprinting until Evelyn's house came into view, and as I was making my way to her front door I was quickly greeted by her frantic Mother. Expecting concern and worry, I was caught off guard by her cruelty. "Get, get! Get off my property and don't you come back! Whole city knows it! Your family's been quarantined. Saw that repulsive notice on your door myself. So you stay away from my family, don't come around her getting us sick! Go on now! And don't you disgusting child come back! Hanging around the ill the way you do, it's despicable." She screeched at me.

She held a towel over her nose and mouth, but the words were still crisp and cruel and cut like newly sharpened knives. Though I tried to plead with her through the tears she had brought to me it wasn't enough. She went into her home, slammed the door in my face and threatened to chord the police.

There was nothing, absolutely nothing left in me to fight. Never had I felt so weak and drained and helpless in my life; it was one of the most brutal and horrible feelings.

The pain in my gut had my hand resting over it as I trudged home. The horrible thoughts though somehow managed to fight their way through the pain. My Mother was going to die, Evelyn was no longer allowed to see me, and Edward… I couldn't let myself think the rest, but I still knew it.

My feet dragged across the gravely path as I tried to make my way to home, though it didn't seem like much of home at the moment. The rest happened almost in a dreamlike state.

The sounds of the gushing and almost overflowing river to my left began to overwhelm my brain and quickly took over my thoughts; and the feelings of devastation and loneliness and dreadfulness came so strongly with it that even if I had tried, I wouldn't have been able to stop my feet from carrying me towards the water.

The pointed and jagged rocks were visible under the surface as I prepared to jump, to sink to the bottom of the river, and to drown. And as the familiar, steady fall of tears came once again my feet lifted off the ground and I was air born for only a second.


	12. To Come Back Again

This Chapter begins where the last one left off and briefly transitions to two weeks later. It is still November of 1918, Grace is still 9 and in 4th grade while Edward is still 17 and a Junior in High school. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: All credit for Twilight and its characters goes to Stephenie Meyer.

It was just before hitting the thrashing water that something slammed into me so hard and so quickly, that I found myself struggling to breathe as I laid on the ground against the tree I had now been thrown against. Slowly the dizziness and throbbing inside of me began to decline and I the feeling of someone's strong arms wrapped around me became apparent.

Slowly and painfully I leaned against their chest as I turned to see who it was, and Carlisle's frantic and dark eyes came into focus.

"What were you thinking?" He asked almost in a growling tone.

When I tried to answer I found that I didn't really know what I was thinking, because I wasn't thinking at all.

Almost immediately Carlisle's posture relaxed as his hand came to stroke my hair. "It's okay," He murmured as I sobbed into his shirt. "Why don't you come stay with me for a while?"

My head nodded up and down as he lifted me off the ground and began to carry me to his home.

Weeks later I was still at Carlisle's home where he was taking care of me when the now cold air had me shivering under the thick comforter. It was morning, and I should have been up by this time but it was just too unnaturally cold to even attempt to do so. So instead I found myself wallowing in the sadness that times like these made me feel. The times when I really missed how things used to be. But by sitting there pondering through my old memories a familiar face flashed across my mind and overwhelmed me with so much longing that I cringed. It was Evelyn's face.

She and I hadn't seen each other ever since her family had told both she and her brother that I was not to be seen any more. This wasn't uncommon, almost everyone I had known before the epidemic had quarantined me due to my habit of hanging around the ill. The only people who spoke to me anymore were those who were either staying in, or worked at the Hospital.

The absence of Evelyn's presence was heartbreaking; and the more I focused on it the more I realized that I needed to see her. My family didn't have much longer to live, and once they succumbed there was no way of knowing what would happen to me. So I had decided; before my life could fall more tragic than it currently was, I would see Evelyn and take in every last bit of happiness that there was left for me.

Quickly I jumped from the bed, no longer paying any attention to the bitter coldness, and began to search frantically for a pen and paper. There was a desk in the room Carlisle had lent to me; and I was lucky enough to find what I was searching for concealed in its wooden drawers. Quickly I grabbed the pen and began to scribble all of my thoughts onto the paper that, hopefully, would soon be in Evelyn's possession.

Dear Evelyn,

I miss you beyond words and hope that you and your family are faring well in these hard times. I miss you! I know I already wrote that but I do, I really do! Please, even though you're not supposed to, please meet me on the school grounds around noon this Saturday. I just need to see you again. I'll be waiting.

Sincerely,

Grace Masen

Tears had begun to well up in my eyes when I heard Carlisle's familiar footsteps coming up the stairs. Before he could make it to the room, I slipped the note along with the pen into the desk drawer and flung myself back into bed. He came in to find me pretending to sleep, though he somehow knew it was a hoax; the man knew everything. "Good morning Grace," He spoke, "Would you like to come downstairs and have some breakfast?" He asked.

Before I could answer Carlisle had flung me over his shoulder and headed downstairs where he then placed me in front of a plate with fresh toast. "I got home early and thought I'd make you something to eat. Do you like toast?" He asked.

I nodded my head as I took a bite of the warm toast while Carlisle leaned against the counter watching me eat. "Do you want some?" I asked, signaling to the toast by raising it.

"No thanks," He answer me while smiling. "What were you doing upstairs by the way?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I heard you rummaging around in your room upstairs," He specified, "What were you doing?"

Carlisle referring to the room upstairs as my own had caught me off guard; never had I really considered that room my own, as doing so meant the same to me as considering his home my own. It was still too hard to even think about living anywhere besides my old home, and I wasn't ready to accept that I soon would be living somewhere else. The sadness from earlier was creeping its way back inside me; and though I tried to conceal it from Carlisle, I knew him well enough to understand that he probably caught it anyways. "Nothing," I murmured while shrugging my shoulders, trying to take my mind off of everything the devastation from the epidemic had caused.

Carlisle eyed me suspiciously but didn't say anything. Instead he told me he'd be in his office and headed back upstairs. Upon finishing my breakfast, I merely headed back to my room for the day and plotted how exactly I would be getting this note to Evelyn.

This was a tough task. Simply knocking on her door was out of the question; no one in their right mind would answer it to me. In these days I was given a two mile clearance when seen all because of my choosing to be with my ill family in their time of need. Letting anyone see me in the process of getting the note to Evelyn wasn't to be considered either. For I knew that as soon as I came into anyone's view they would shut themselves and their whole family up inside their homes; some people would probably go as far as to contact authorities if I tried to step on their property. So, from what my options were, getting this note to Evelyn would have to be done under the cover of night where no one would see me. Carlisle would probably insist that he tag along too. He wouldn't risk me going out on my own ever since my last attempt with the river.

After long hours of trying to come up with a plan, Carlisle finally stepped in to see if I was okay. There was nothing besides a way of contacting Evelyn that I thought I currently needed at the moment; but once he mentioned coming along with him to see Edward while he worked a night shift it became apparent how much I missed my brother. After I agreed to go and he had left to gather his things for work I quickly slipped the note I had written to Evelyn earlier into my dress pocket and ran out the door to find Carlisle waiting for me on the front porch.

Edward was fast asleep alongside my Mother when we reached the hospital. They always insisted that I wear a mask, though I always took it off so I could kiss him. He must have been sleeping quite lightly tonight, because as soon as I lightly pressed my lips to his forehead he stirred and woke up. "Is that you, Grace?" He managed to whisper.

The force it took to make myself smile was probably apparent on my face, but these days Edward wasn't quite lucid enough to notice much. Every time that I saw him I cried. It was becoming inevitable; and the crying had begun to progressively worsen after my Father's passing. Seeing his empty bed still revived the memory of my Father's last words to me; and after glancing at Edward and my Mother intense depression began to swell up inside me and left me crying hysterically. My sobbing lasted for a good half hour: leaning into Edward weakening body as he rubbed my back in an effort to soothe me.

It was quickly becoming too hard to even step foot inside the Hospital. For every time I did I was reminded of how much this Influenza was taking form me. The thought of this brought such a strong sadness that my whole stomach began to painfully ache as I began to cry into Edward's shoulder again. "Please stop crying, Grace," Edward spoke, deep grief becoming evident in his own tone.

My dying brother's pleading worsened my crying for moment; but eventually I was able to stop. "You can't die Edward. You just can't. You're my everything." I exclaimed.

When he had first fallen ill, Edward had told me that he wasn't going to die. But ever since it had become apparent that Edward's life would end, he had stopped saying so. Edward once again remained silent and merely continued to rub my back; but slowly his hand made its way down to my dress pocket and pulled out my note for Evelyn. "What is this?" He asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

"I wrote it for Evelyn. I need to see her again," I answered him.

"When's the last time you saw her?" He asked me.

The awful memory of Evelyn's Mother forbidding me to see her family struck me so hard I cringed before shaking it off and answering him. "It was the day you fell ill."

Edward sighed sympathetically before rubbing my back one last time and leaving us to rest in silence for the rest of our time together. From what I could see, the clock on the wall said it was just past four in the morning when Carlisle came to get me so that would could go home. Quickly, when the idea occurred to me as Carlisle and I were stepping out of the Hospital, I seized the opportunity to get the note to Evelyn. "Carlisle, could we go for a walk before heading home?" I asked him.

He eyed me strangely, probably wondering why I wasn't wanting to be asleep in bed after being up for so long, but eventually agreed to take me for a walk upon my request that foggy morning.

The Sun was still far over the horizon; not a single trace of its rays were visible at this hour, but soon they would be. We walked in silence for a good length of time; me leading and him following. It wasn't until we had walked a good mile that he eventually spoke. "How far were you planning on going Grace?" He asked me.

"Not much further." I answered without stopping.

Carlisle stayed right behind me until I finally reached my destination. The blue wooden house had remained unchanged throughout the past events; and that timeless familiarity made me feel as if nothing had changed, and I was living back in the old days when Evelyn and I would spend day after day playing in her front yard; swinging from the tree swing, drinking ice tea, reading books, or searching for butterflies. But the longer I stared at the home the more I began to miss those times when everything was so much easier; and I before I could stop them, tears had begun to collect in my eyes. "Grace," Carlisle spoke in an effort to pull me from my thoughts, "What's the real reason that you wanted to go on a walk for?" He asked.

"Stay here," I told him while sniffling and wiping away my tears.

Quickly I darted through her yard and back behind her fence until I was standing just below her window. "Evelyn!" I shouted in a whisper in an effort to get her attention; but it was when I remembered the current time and that she was most likely still asleep that I turned to throwing small objects at her window.

Sticks, twigs, small rocks: they all fell victims in my attempts to get her attention. Just before I fell desperate and began to really consider throwing my shoe at her window Evelyn appeared through the curtains and pulled the window open. "Evelyn!" I spoke. The excitement and joy that I felt to see her face again caused me to speak more loudly than I should have.

"Grace! Oh how I've missed you! What are you doing here?" She asked.

The same emotions were apparent on her face and in her tone as she spoke to me; and as we stared at each other we mimicked the same joyful smile. "I needed to give something to you!" I answered as I pulled the note from my pocket and wadded it up into a ball. "Here, catch!" I spoke and tossed it to her.

The paper though, was to light to make it though and fell short of her outstretched arms. After three tries I wrapped the note around a nearby rock that gave it enough weight to reach her.

Evelyn was in the midst of opening the note when an oil lamp was lit downstairs. My heart pounded for fear of being caught and I quickly began to panic. "Evelyn, I have to leave now! Promise me you will read the note and do what I ask of you?" I asked her frantically.

"I promise I will! Goodbye Grace!" She yelled; a hint of sadness had managed to seep into her tone.

"Goodbye Evelyn," I yelled back and darted to through her yard back to Carlisle where I quickly took his hand and we both sprinted until we reached the edge of the woods.

"What happened?" Carlisle asked as we trudged up the wooden porch steps.

"Tomorrow at noon I'm meeting Evelyn at the school," I stated while opening his front door and stepping inside, "I just really want to see her again."

That night I only barely managed to squeeze in an hour or two of sleep just before the sun came up. Carlisle left me a note saying that he had gone to work. Eventually though, I was trudging to the school house where I found Evelyn already waiting for me.

"Evelyn!" I yelled as I ran to embrace her.

There was something in her eyes when she pulled away to look at me though, some sort of heaviness that she seemed to be trying to hide. "It's so sad, isn't it?" She asked while turning towards the now abandoned school house.

"Yeah," I agreed as I took in the school house's gloomy appearance. "I want to take you somewhere, come on." I said while grabbing her hand and pulling her to follow me.

We walked the long trek in silence until we reached where I had been wanting to go back to for a good while now.

"Pretty isn't it?" I asked once we had crossed over the small stream and reached my tree.

When I turned to look at Evelyn though, her heavy eyes pieced into me and instead of answering my question, she took in a deep breath and muttered "Grace… Grace we're leaving."

It felt as if all the heaviness had now been placed on me, and her vivid blue eyes now had tears slowly building in the corners until they began to trickle down her soft cheeks. Fighting back my own tears I was barely able to speak to her. "What do you mean you're leaving?" I asked her while giving up and letting the tears go.

"My Mother says that it's too dangerous here, she says we need to leave." She answered while her crying began to turn into sobbing. "I was barely able to come see you today."

Weakly I pulled her into a hug and cried into her shoulder. "Don't worry Grace," Evelyn began, "We'll see each other again."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"We stood there next to my tree for what felt like an eternity until the faint sound of someone calling her name reached us. "I need to leave," She said while rubbing her tears off and sniffling. "Goodbye, Grace."

"Goodbye, Evelyn." I mumbled as I hugged her one last time.

I didn't watch her walk away, it was just been another despairing memory that I didn't want to have. Instead I leaned against my tree and began to cry again as I slumped to the ground. The energy to get up and leave was completely drained from me, and it wasn't until the Sun had set over the horizon that I attempted to move from my spot upon seeing Carlisle's dark figure making its way towards me.

"How did you find me?" I muttered into his collar as he carried me to his home.

"I heard about what happened." He stated solemnly, ignoring my question.

"Who told you?" I asked as the tears came back.

"I went to that house we were at the other day, and one of the neighbors came out and told me that they had left this evening." He answered.

He continued to walk home in silence as my crying came to its end and tucked me into bed when we reached the room that he had lent me. "I don't know how much longer these bad things are going to go on for; maybe a day, maybe a year. But I do know that it will end, and that things will get better. You'll just have to wait." He muttered and then paused. He continued after I had nodded my head, hopeful that his statement would be true. "Goodnight, Grace." He whispered and cautiously leaned over and kissed my forehead.

His lips were strangely cold and hard but at the same time they were able to fill me with a wonderful since of warmth and comfort. "I love you," He whispered into my ear before leaving the room.

Surrounded by the pitch darkness I quietly muttered "I love you" back to Carlisle, hoping that he had somehow caught it. The moonlight slowly slipped into the guest room through the slightly parted curtains as I laid there trying desperately to fall asleep as those heart wrenching tears began to come back again.


End file.
